Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock says he didn’t have much choice regarding left-back Hayden Coulson's move to the Blues on loan for the season and tips Town to win the League One title.
As previously reported, the deal which would see Coulson join the Blues was agreed several weeks ago but was delayed while Warnock waited first-choice Marc Bola to return to fitness and looked for cover.
"I didn’t have much choice on that, if I’m honest,” Warnock told the Hartlepool Mail when asked about the switch.
"Hayden wanted to go for the season. I think Cooky [Town manager Paul Cook] was ringing him every minute of the day so there’s not a lot I can do.
"I’ve just told him you never know in football. Go and have a season where you can get a lot of games under your belt and then come back here and go again.
"He’s a local lad who wants to do well and you never know the opportunity might still be there. I think he’s just got to go and play games now.”
Warnock expects Coulson and Town to be celebrating come the end of the season: "I just think the money that they are spending they should win the league really.
"They are really splashing out and have a new owner and everything. I think his agent had sorted it out weeks ago really, kept knocking on my door now for weeks and it seemed logical to let him go if I’m not going to play him regularly.”
Sunderland and Luton Town were among the other clubs keen on signing Coulson, who is contracted to Boro until the summer of 2023.