Hoyte outlines England aim

Hoyte: England hopes

Hopefully playing regularly football obviously leads me to playing for the England senior team.

Justin Hoyte
Quotes of the week

Related links

Teams

• Middlesbrough

Players

• Justin Hoyte

Also see

• Boro fixtures
• Boro stats
• Boro forum

Justin Hoyte hopes regular football with Middlesbrough will help catapult him into the England fold.

The 23-year-old right-back has won 18 caps for England's Under-21s, but is yet to make the breakthrough into the senior squad.

Hoyte has now made the switch to Middlesbrough after falling down Arsenal's pecking order following the arrival of Bacary Sagna last summer.

The right-back, who was signed to fill the void vacated by the departure of Luke Young to Aston Villa, hopes regular football at the Riverside will help illuminate him on Fabio Capello's radar.

"Hopefully playing regular football obviously leads me to playing for the England senior team, which is my major goal," he said on Sky Sports News.

Lack of football

"Last season I didn't play as many games as I would have liked but that's football and part and parcel of being a footballer."

Hoyte had been with Arsenal since the age of nine, however, the defender had no qualms moving North following positive talks with Boro boss Gareth Southgate.

"I still feel like the new kid in town now, but I've played with a lot of the players that are in the team at the moment so that'll be a big help for me when I eventually get to play," he continued.

"It obviously helps playing with players you've played with before, knowing their strengths.

"He (Southgate) was a major factor. From the day I came up here and I started speaking to him he was fantastic.

Ambitions

"He said great things about the club. He told me his ambitions for the club and what he wanted from me as a player. I loved that."

Hoyte caught Southgate's eye during his loan spell with neighbours Sunderland and he is looking forward to helping him mature and develop as a player at the Riverside.

"He had a loan spell at Sunderland where he played very consistently. It's an important stage in his career now," explained Southgate.

"He's got great pedigree, but he needs to go and play. We know he can improve even more. He is focused on improving.

"He wants to play and the confidence of us showing the faith in him by going and buying him will give him an impetus on the field."