ON-LOAN York City right-back Brad Halliday will be out to upset one of his first footballing heroes when Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink’s Burton Albion team visit Bootham Crescent on Saturday.

Middlesbrough defender Halliday was a ten-year-old schoolboy when former Holland striker Hasselbaink helped his home-town team reach the UEFA Cup final in 2006.

The Riverside Stadium club went on to lose 4-0 to Sevilla in Eindhoven but the ex-Leeds United and Chelsea marksman is still fondly remembered by Boro fans for plundering 34 goals during a two-season spell.

Hasselbaink took over at high-flying Burton in mid-November following Gary Rowett’s departure for Birmingham City and has only lost one of his ten fixtures in charge of the Brewers.

But Halliday is hoping to curtail the progress of a man he holds in high esteem, saying: “I lived in Spain for the first four years of my life but, other than that, I’ve always lived in Middlesbrough and supported the club, so Jimmy-Floyd was a hero of mine.

“I grew up watching him and he was a big role model when he was there.

“He was a strong scorer and, as a defender, coming up against someone like him would have been your worst nightmare because he was a great player.

“Quite a lot of players looked up to him and he’s been doing well at Burton as well. I know a lad from Boro that he took there on loan and they’ve got a good squad, like we have, so it should be a good game.

“Hopefully, I can put in a good performance against his side and do well for the team.”

Having completed a three-match suspension for being sent off during the 1-0 home victory over Accrington, Halliday was pleased, but surprised, to earn an instant recall to the City side for Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Stevenage at the expense of the experienced Marvin McCoy.

He had anticipated a similar wait to that he experienced during his initial loan spell at Bootham Crescent where he only made his debut on the day his stay was due to lapse.

On his return to the starting XI, the 19-year-old defender admitted: “I was delighted to come straight back into the team. I didn’t think I would and I was gutted when I got my red card.

“I thought I would have to sit back and wait for my chance again because Marv had done well in my absence but the fans and a lot of people supported me after the sending-off and I think that helped a lot.”

Halliday was dismissed on Boxing Day for a reckless lunge at Accrington’s Tom Aldred but did not dispute the referee’s decision and has vowed not to repeat his mistake while losing none of the tenacity that characterises his game.

He said: “I think it’s easy to control that type of thing. It was a lack of experience from me and I won’t let it happen again.

“I accepted the referee’s decision because it was a rash tackle. I didn’t mean to injure the player and I was just trying to win the ball but I think it was a red-card challenge because of the way I went in.”

Halliday also felt City did not impose themselves on Saturday against Stevenage, who he did not blame for using gamesmanship to dictate proceedings.

“They were the better team and we let our standards dip,” he confessed.

“They like to kick the ball up the pitch and win second balls and they were better than us at that.

“We play better when we get the ball down but I felt we were drawn into the way they play. A lot of their players were going down injured to waste time and I’ve not really encountered that before.

“I thought the ref could have done more to speed up the game but that’s the way it goes. If we had been in the same position, some of our experienced players might have done the same because it’s game management really.”

Halliday’s loan stay has now been extended until the summer and he is determined to make his mark in North Yorkshire before returning to his parent club.

York Press:

JIMMY JIMMY: Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink in his days with Middlesbrough

He added: “I was hoping to stay here until the end of the season and knew that York really wanted me to sign, so I was delighted when Middlesbrough allowed me to.

“I’m hoping to get a lot of game time and experience under my belt because it’s hard football with people fighting for points, either to stay in the League or to move up it.

“It’s just good to be involved and part of the York City team and I want to experience climbing up the table and seeing the fans get behind the side. I think, with the squad we have got, we can do that.

“We were a bit disappointed with the Stevenage game in terms of our performance, but I think we can learn from that, move on and start winning some matches.”