Luke Young on the Hasselbaink effect

Mar 9 2008 by Chris Wathan, Wales On Sunday

LUKE YOUNG has labelled former team-mate Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink as intense – and expects him to be no different today.

The Middlesbrough defender was at Charlton with the Dutch striker last year and admits the veteran frontman demands high standards from everyone around him.

Now, on Hasselbaink’s return to the Riverside, Young believes the boost he will give the Bluebirds is a worry for Boro.

The right-back said: “Jimmy will be looking to put in a good performance and he really is someone you have to look out for.

“And I think every club could do with a Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. He would have banter in the changing room, but if the lads took it a bit too easy, he would be the first to say, ‘Come on, let’s do it properly’.

“It was good to have him around because he wouldn’t let standards drop. He’s probably the most intense player I’ve played with, and that’s because he’s a winner.

“That was one of the things that struck me when he first came to Charlton. If things weren’t right, he would let people know. Off the pitch, he was one of the lads again.

“I spoke to some of the lads here and they said, ‘If you gave Jimmy a bad ball, he would look at you with those big eyes’.

“You need one or two like that and we have – just not anyone to Jimmy’s high standards!”

But Young admits it’s not just Hasselbaink’s motivational qualities that could help City spring a shock in the North-East this afternoon, adding: “If he gets a yard and can get a shot off he’s quite lethal with the power he has in those legs.

“He scored a brilliant goal against Wolves in the last round – the way he let the ball run, sold the defender, and stuck it in the top corner was superb.

“He’s coming back to play against his old club but he’s got nothing to prove. He has scored goals wherever he’s been.”