Craig Liddle just knew. That's why, on the morning of Tuesday, October 4, 2022, he put Hayden Hackney's name on the whiteboard in the Rockliffe manager's office, turned to interim boss Leo Percovich and said: "Trust me on this one, he really needs to play."
And how he played.
The driving runs, the raking passes, the goals, the assists; there, down in red on the Riverside turf, a dream being lived.
From his first Boro appearance to his tearful last, he remained a humble hero - his smile almost sheepish. He knew he was good, and so he should, but he always remained so very normal, a Boro fan in a Boro shirt but on the pitch, and so, so often the best on the pitch.
Michael Carrick loved the fact that Hackney never changed. He did as a player, of course, he got better and better. But not as a lad. Unassuming, quiet, just got on with it.
Liddle loved that as well. Boro's academy work not just to produce good players but good people.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Former Boro Under-23s boss Graeme Lee previously told the Northern Echo: "With Hayden, there's no ego, he's just a lovely lad. Whatever you ask of him he'll do. He's just a really nice genuine lad who wants to do the best for himself."
It hasn't all been plain sailing. Neil Cox was the gaffer at Scunthorpe when Hackney joined on loan early in his career, and Tony McMahon was the assistant. It was tough. Scunthorpe were the worst team in the Football League at the time and it was an eye-opener for Hackney.
But amid the darkness of the club's situation, Cox and McMahon saw the light in Hackney. They pulled him after training.
"He was playing balls that were too far ahead of my players," Cox told the Northern Echo.
"Myself and Tony McMahon used to say to him don't worry about that because when you're back to Middlesbrough they'll expect those balls."
Teesside came to expect and Hackney delivered. There's pressure on a homegrown star and the shirt can weigh heavy but if Hackney felt it, it didn't show.
Carrick loved him and gave him the armband, first in an FA Cup tie against Aston Villa and then, for the first time in the Championship, at Norwich, in October, 2024.
"It was amazing, it's a dream, as I always say," said Hackney.
And he did always say that. He always seemed to strike a wonderful balance between taking everything in his stride but not taking anything for granted.
When Jonathan Woodgate was boss, he was once asked whether Dael Fry would get his head turned by Premier League interest at the time.
"Dael? Dael Fry?," he replied.
"He's from Berwick Hills, mate. He's a proper Boro lad. He won't get excited about that."
Hackney always remained grounded. Even when Porto came calling, the bid was knocked back and Hackney got on with it. The same could be said of Nottingham Forest.
And then when the Ipswich offer was accepted last summer, Hackney decided against it. OK, it wasn't a Premier League move, but the Tractor Boys still looked better placed at that point to win promotion than Boro. And he'd have been the beneficiary of a fair-old wage hike.
Instead, Hackney wanted one more crack at it with Boro. The dream, he always said, was to play in the Premier League with his hometown club.
And how close he came. If only he got through that Bristol City game unscathed. How cruel for Hackney and Boro that the Championship's best player missed the Championship run-in.
It's not a leap to say that there's every chance Boro would have got over the line had Hackney managed to stay fit.
At full-time at Southampton, he stood alone for more than 10 minutes, tearful in front of the away end. The memories - so many - must have been running through his mind: the debut, captaincy, the Chelsea goal.
Then came the opportunity for another dream to come true. Wembley, where a tearful Hackney had watched his beloved Boro lose to Norwich in the play-off final and remembers the sad silence as he made his way home in the car with his mum and dad.
The roar that went up when he got the nod to come on will live with him forever.
It could have been a fairytale. But football can be so cruel. And we all knew what was going to happen next.
There's always sadness when a star player leaves, and it's deeper when he's one of your own.
Sadness that you no longer get the joy of spending your weekends watching him play anymore and adjusting to the new reality of seeing him in someone else's shirt.
But there's also pride; pride at what he became and what he achieved. And what he can go on to achieve.
"Having supported the club since I was a kid, it was always my dream to play at the Riverside and pull on the shirt," he said in a farewell message to fans.
"To captain the team as I went on to do was beyond my wildest dreams.
"I've got so many special memories from over the years, and there's been some great moments. The only disappointment was that we couldn't quite make it to the Premier League.
"Boro will always have a special place in my heart."
Go well, Hayden.