MARK Yeates was impressed by the number of full internationals at Middlesbrough’s training ground last week, and the ambitious Irishman hopes to have joined the club’s list of cap winners by the end of next season.

Having completed a £500,000 move from Colchester at the start of the month, Yeates found himself rubbing shoulders with the likes of Stewart Downing, Emanuel Pogatetz and Robert Huth as Boro’s players reconvened for the start of pre-season training last Monday.

The 24-year-old midfielder has represented the Republic of Ireland at Under-21 and B level, but is yet to win a senior cap. But having joined a dressing room that is full of established internationals, Yeates is hoping to catch Giovanni Trapattoni’s eye as Boro compete in the Championship next season.

“I played with tonnes of topnotch players at Tottenham,”

said Yeates, who made three Premier League appearances after emerging through the Academy system at White Hart Lane, “so being around people like that is no problem to me.

“It’s nice to play with the best players out there, and I feel like I’ll get a chance to do that here. If you’re playing with good players and internationals, it can only help you improve your own game.

“I want to take my game to the next level, and it would obviously be great to play for my country.

A lot of lads in the Ireland set-up have come through the ranks with me, and it’s a wellknown fact that the gaffer (Trapattoni) is not afraid to stick young lads in.

“Every lad wants to play for their country, but you have to earn the right and the most important thing is obviously for me to do well here.”

As an established left winger, albeit one who is also comfortable on the right or in a more central position, Yeates currently finds himself behind an England international and an Under-21 regular in the pecking order.

The competition will ease when Stewart Downing completes an anticipated move to Aston Villa – the Pallister Park protege is expected to move to Villa Park once Ashley Young completes a mooted move to Manchester United – but that would still leave the progressive Adam Johnson in control of the left midfield berth.

Yeates accepts he will have to battle for a starting spot in next month’s Championship opener against Sheffield United, but as he prepares to make his Middlesbrough bow in Saturday’s opening pre-season friendly at Macclesfield, he is confident his ability will shine through.

“I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t think I was good enough to get in the team,” he said.

“Every player here has quality, but I have my own goals to fulfil and I wouldn’t have signed if I didn’t believe in my own ability.

“I like to get the ball and get at people, but I can also get a goal and hopefully I can chip in and help in that respect next season.

“I also tend to score a lot from set-pieces, and that’s something I work on.”

Yeates’ scoring record was one of the things that first caught Gareth Southgate’s eye last season, and having tracked the Irishman throughout the second half of the campaign, the Boro boss claims he would have bid for the Dubliner even if the Teessiders had retained their Premier League status.

“We trailed him a fair bit towards the end of last season and he’s somebody we would have looked to bring in whatever division we were in,” said Southgate.

“He’s worked at Tottenham with good quality players, and you can already see in training he’s got excellent ability.

“He’s quite a chirpy character and we need that in the club. He’s a confident lad and he played 50 odd games last season. We have to get our best players on the field more.”

Southgate was forced to beat off competition from Sheffield United, Bristol City and Crystal Palace in order to lure Yeates to the Riverside.

“The other clubs that were in for him this summer were clubs with very experienced Championship managers,” he said.

“I was quite pleased to see that the likes of Palace and Bristol City, with the managers they’ve got, were interested.

That confirmed our feelings on him.”