Leeds United loanee Sam Greenwood believes he has started to find his feet at Middlesbrough after a slow start to life in Teesside. With game time looking hard to come by at Elland Road this season, Greenwood made the move to the Riverside Stadium in the closing days of the summer transfer window.
He was thrown straight in at the deep end by Michael Carrick, too, coming off the bench in the 2-0 loss to QPR just a few days after joining the Boro, who found themselves propping up the Championship table at that point. Greenwood went on to make three more substitute appearances before he was given the chance to start for his new club with his first appearance in the XI coming as Middlesbrough claimed a home win over Cardiff City last week.
He caught the eye enough to keep his spot for the trip to Sunderland, Greenwood’s boyhood club, and that’s where he made his first real mark under Carrick, scoring the opening goal in a 4-0 win over the Black Cats. As such, with his first goal of the season in the bag, the attacking midfielder is keen to kick on and show Middlesbrough fans his true colours on a consistent basis.
“I feel like I’m getting there now,” Greenwood said, as per Teesside Live. “I had a bit of a slow start because of injuries over the summer and needing to try and get up to speed, but it feels like it’s coming now, and I just want to keep pushing.”
To the surprise of many, Middlesbrough, who finished fourth last season, failed to win any of their first seven Championship games under Carrick, but after breaking their duck against Southampton, they have won four in a row, and Greenwood is looking up.
“We’re in a good place and buzzing we got the three points,” he said after the win at the Stadium of Light. “We’ve got to quickly move on though. We’ll have a little rest during the international break, but also prepare to get straight back into it after.
“The rest is important because there are obviously a lot of games in the Championship. But when we get back into it the aim is clear – we have to keep that momentum going and keep pushing and see how it goes.”
Reports earlier this week claimed that Middlesbrough have an option to buy Greenwood on a permanent £1.5million deal at the end of his season-long loan spell at the Riverside
