HE might not be a like-for-like replacement for Chuba Akpom, but Matt Crooks insists he is more than ready to deputise for last season’s leading scorer when Middlesbrough kick off the new Championship season at the weekend.

Akpom has missed the entire pre-season programme because of a knee injury that was carried over from the end of last term, and while he has not been categorically ruled out of Saturday’s season-opener against Millwall, he is not expected to feature at the Riverside.

His anticipated absence leaves a gap in the ‘number ten’ role in Michael Carrick’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, which Crooks has been filling in the majority of Boro’s pre-season games.

Last season, when the 29-year-old started under Carrick, it tended to be as a ‘number nine’ leading the line, but having spent much of his time at his previous club, Rotherham United, playing as an attacking midfielder, he is confident he can slot seamlessly into Akpom’s role if required.

“I played there for Rotherham in the Championship, and last season I did a little bit there too,” said Crooks, who is heading into his third season as a Middlesbrough player. “It’s something I’m comfortable with.

“In training, the gaffer has shown me the role, and I feel like I know it well enough to play it. Obviously, Chuba played there last year, and he did alright, didn’t he? If the gaffer wants me to play there, I’ll be happy to do it.”

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With Carrick having brought in a number of youngsters this summer, Crooks finds himself heading into the new campaign as one of the elder statesmen in the dressing room, a role he is more than comfortable with.

“I talk to a lot of people, don’t I,” he said. “It’s nice to be nice. I like to get along with people. I like coming into training every day, the camaraderie around the place, getting to know people and their lives.

“Obviously, we’re here to play football, but I like getting to know different people, their culture and their lives. It’s good to get to know the new lads, they’re a good bunch.”

A new season inevitably brings new aims, and having come so close to making it out of the Championship last season, Boro’s overriding ambitions for the next nine months are obvious. By this time next summer, Crooks wants to have a promotion on his CV.

“I was speaking to my dad the other day and we were saying that, hopefully, it’s small increments each season,” he said. “My first season, we finished seventh, last year, we didn’t quite come up trumps in the play-offs, so hopefully this year, we can go one better and get promoted.”