Tom Cleverley support indicative of Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough youth policy

Michael Carrick will face another familiar face at the Riverside this weekend - as another former team-mate in Tom Cleverley brings his side to play Middlesbrough.

Cleverley has been handed one of the most precarious jobs in English football - becoming Watford's 18th permanent manager in the last ten seasons. The pair played over 50 games together at Manchester United as Cleverley came through the ranks at Old Trafford while Carrick was one of the more senior players at the club.

Carrick himself is only in his second season of senior management as Cleverley, eight years his junior, takes his first steps in management. It comes after the former Hornets player was fast-tracked into the hotseat at Vicarage Road having stepped up from his coaching role with the under-18s to take interim charge after Valerian Ismael was sacked in March.

READ MORE: Tom Cleverley's Middlesbrough prediction for next season as Watford boss talks Carrick respect

Carrick said: “You take the opportunity when it comes. Clev is smart and has a real football intelligence. He had a spell coaching in their under-18s and has stepped up now, so I’m hoping he does well. “I’ve been in touch and I’m delighted he got the job. I know him really well.

"The last time we won the league at United we played a lot of games together, and him becoming a manager makes me feel old! He was doing a lot of my running at that stage, so for him to now be stepping into management… But I’m delighted for him. He’s done really well so far and you can see the good work he’s been doing already.

"We know it will be a tough game. They’re looking a bit longer term now with his appointment and they’ll be looking for a strong end to the season exactly the same as us. So it should be a good game. We’ve got one game left this season and we want to play well in it and try to win it."

Like Boro, Cleverley's side arrive at the Riverside thinking more to the future, with little riding on the result of the game. From a Boro point of view, that could see more youngsters handed opportunities, with Ajay Matthews and Charlie Lennon given debuts in the last two games.

Handed players from Boro's esteemed academy is something Carrick has proven himself keen to do since first arriving on Teesside, and it's perhaps fitting to reflect on that as Cleverley brings his side to the Riverside. As a senior team-mate when the Hornets boss graduated United's academy, he spoke ahead of the game about how influential and supportive Carrick had been.

Asked about that, the Boro boss said: “It’s similar to how I am now in terms of giving young players an opportunity. Whether that’s debuts, training with us or bits of advice to help them. I was exactly the same as a player. When I was at United, it was almost part of the evolution of what you were expected to do as a player as you were getting a little bit older and considered a senior player.

"Playing alongside players like Clevs, it was natural to just give him bits of advice. To see him go on and, first of all, have a fantastic playing career and now, go into management, of course there’s a lot of pride. I don’t want to take credit for much of it, but certainly when you come through at United, senior players will certainly have a big impact. So I take a lot of pride in how players like Clevs have flourished through their careers. It’s great and I’m sure he’ll do really well."

While Carrick will be hoping he does well in general in his new role, he'll be plotting against him and hoping to send him back to Hertfordshire this weekend on the back of a defeat to end their season. More importantly though, hopefully the kind of career both Carrick and Cleverley enjoyed can be indicative of the influence the Boro boss can have on nurturing the next generation of Boro stars, as well as the current.