Sammy Silvera is hoping to use his Blackpool loan to rediscover his love and confidence on a football pitch.

The Middlesbrough forward has joined the Tangerines on loan until the end of the season after his initial loan this season at Portsmouth was cut short this month. It followed a tough spell at Fratton Park in which the Australian international struggled to make an impact.

Making just six starts for Saturday’s Championship opponents, the most recent of which saw Pompey fans chant for him to be sent back to Boro - an act head coach John Mousinho condemned after the game. With Silvera in a new environment now though, he’s hoping to resurrect his career with the help of Blackpool boss Steve Bruce.

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“It’s a pleasure to be here,” Silvera said in his club interview. “I’m really looking forward to getting going and getting on the pitch as soon as I can. The interest was there from the start of the transfer window, but I didn’t want to rush anything. I wanted to make sure I got the decision right.

“Speaking to the coach [Bruce] was the main inspiration in making me believe this is the right place for me to be. His career and management career speaks for itself, and speaking to him on the phone, he seemed like an honest, straight-to-the-point guy, and that’s what I need.

“I’m here to learn and try to reach my best and in doing so, helping the club as well. Watching some games, it’s an attractive style that I think I can have an impact on. The main thing about football for me is entertainment, so when I step out onto that pitch I want to entertain.

“I’m here to try and get back to my best, to score goals and assists to help the team and get back to feeling good when I’m out on the pitch. I haven’t played a lot of football recently, so hopefully I can get up to speed quickly and get that feeling back as soon as possible.”

Silvera’s loans away from Boro this season followed his first season on Teesside after he was signed in a six-figure deal from A-League side Central Coast Mariners. Boro always felt Silvera’s signing would be a gamble, albeit a low-risk one at the price.

But with Boro suffering so many injuries last term, he ended up making 40 appearances before attacking reinforcements arrived last summer and Boro opted to have Silvera head out on loan to experience more regular game-time. However, that did not work out in the first half of the season at Portsmouth, as he now looks to get back on track at Bloomfield Road.

“The first year at Middlesbrough was a brilliant year,” Silvera reflected. “I didn’t expect to play as much I did, but 40 games there was a blessing for myself. I’m extremely grateful and learned a lot. I then went away and it just didn’t happen for whatever reason [at Portsmouth]. But I’ve tried to learn from those experiences as well. I can hopefully shape that and put into practice to being a better player here instead.”

Meanwhile, sending a classy message after his loan at Portsmouth was cut short, head coach Mousinho said: "We had a sensible conversation with Middlesbrough about what was best for Sammy and, after the Bristol City game, both parties thought it was the best thing for Sammy to go back.

"It’s very difficult off the back of that (supporter reaction) as a player and then as a coach. If I’m looking at that as a coach, I worry about the negative implications of involving Sammy again for his own sake - and we have to look after him as a player.

"I don’t think he deserved any of that, but I don’t necessarily think that would stop it from happening again. You certainly have to look at a player’s confidence and a player’s well-being when you’re taking into account all of the questions which you need to answer.

"I thought Sammy dealt with it unbelievably well considering. I spoke to him the next day, he'd had a tough time, he had taken it on board. Any opinion that anybody wants to have on a player is absolutely fine, but our form this year isn’t Sammy’s fault, the Bristol City game wasn’t Sammy’s fault.

"I am sure Sammy would have wanted to be involved a lot more, but he hadn't stopped trying, he hadn’t stopped working, he certainly hadn’t downed tools. He was still working for the football club regardless of what you think of his performances. We hadn’t used him a huge amount in recent weeks and sometimes loans and permanents don’t quite work out.

"Sammy certainly showed glimpses of what he was capable of and I know he’s going to go on and do well elsewhere. But I just think at the moment, in terms of where we are, it was the sensible decision for both clubs. I know that he’ll go on to have a successful career."