Hayden Hackney believes he and Aidan Morris have a natural connection and says their partnership can only grow stronger the more they play together.

After Morris missed over two months of action due to a knee injury, the Middlesbrough midfield duo were reunited on Tuesday evening. It certainly didn’t feel like any coincidence that Morris’s return coincided with one of Boro’s best performances in a while, with Hackney turning in his best for some time also.

The Redcar midfielder fired an excellent first-half opening goal for Boro, and was generally afforded the freedom to affect the game in more advanced areas, thanks largely to the trust in Morris’s deeper-lying and aggressive midfield style. It’s how their individual strengths blend together that Hackney feels is the secret to what’s proved such a fruitful pairing.

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Hackney said: “It’s hard to say, really, we just have that connection. You could see today, how good he was winning them duels. He regains the ball so much. I really enjoy playing with him. I would say it allows me more freedom.

“You could see tonight how he likes to drop in between the two centre-backs to build up play and I think he does that well. That gives me that little bit more freedom to get higher up the pitch. He seems to like that deeper role where he can dictate the play more.

“That allows me to get up near Finn and near Manu and try and get the ball up to them as fast as possible. I really enjoy playing with him and I think it can definitely grow further. I don’t know how many games I’ve actually even played with him because obviously he’s been out injured.

“We started off reasonably well, I thought, and it was nice to be back on the pitch with him again. We’re close off the pitch now as well - all the lads are, to be fair. Me and Aidan are obviously a similar age which helps. It’s nice to play with him.”

Morris’s return helped Boro pick up just their second win in eight games. It was also their first in five at the Riverside, with their last home win coming before Christmas against Millwall. It was a disappointing run for Boro, but Hackney offered insight into the dressing room attitude as they look to now use the West Brom win as a catalyst.

“We knew it was a big game,” he said. “We didn’t really talk about it, but we knew with recent results that this was a big game. Obviously there’s been frustration in the dressing room of late. We weren’t dwelling on it too much, but everyone knew.

“We were concentrated and making sure we were ready for the game though. We went over the Portsmouth game and the things we had to work on. The gaffer showed us that, we took it into this one, and I think we did what he asked. We hope this can spark a good run now. That’s the aim. We should kick on from this and use a win against a good team as motivation.”

As well as a catalyst for Boro overall, Hackney is hoping his stunning goal can help kickstart improved goalscoring form for him. He admitted to relief to get on the scoresheet, having missed a couple of good chances in recent weeks.

He reflected: “I scored in the last game we played against them as well! Obviously it’s just nice to play my part in an important three points. The first touch set it nicely and it just felt like it was there to be hit.

“It was in the back of my mind, I should have scored against Hull when I hit the post, and then the Portsmouth chance, I should have scored that as well. So it was nice to get one tonight. I’ve been getting in the right positions and we’ve been working on it in training, so chipping in with a few more goals is something I definitely want to do.

“We were disappointed after Saturday and we knew it would be a tough game tonight, but we managed to get the job done. We got the gameplan right, got our chances on the break and defended well. We probably had to defend a bit more than we should have in the second half because we didn’t get the ball down and play as much as we should.

“But I think they only really had one chance and we seemed reasonably solid. Then Ben [Doak] sticks his in. I just said to him there, ‘that’s top corner, no keeper saves that’. We know creating a positive atmosphere and energy in the stadium is down to us. I think, especially first half, we did that and then, at the end, when we needed them, they [fans] were there. It’s appreciated.”