Stewart Downing has backed Morgan Whittaker to shine at Middlesbrough, and prove himself worthy of the early hype in his career, while dismissing the concern after his Plymouth Argyle exit.

Whittaker caught the eye of many during his time at Plymouth - particularly last season when he netted 20 goals to help the Pilgrims maintain their Championship status. Though he only managed to add another four in the first half of this season, Boro were long-time admirers of the wide forward and pounced on the opportunity to sign him in last month’s transfer window.

His move was not without controversy, as Pilgrims head coach Miron Muslic accused the forward of not showing up for a game against Burnley ahead of his exit. Whittaker hit back at the claims, saying it had been agreed between himself and the club that he would not play because the impending move.

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Drama aside, he made his Boro debut on Monday evening against Sunderland and though there were some early promising signs from the 24-year-old, he ultimately faded in the game and struggled to have an influence as Boro lost their early grip. Despite that, Downing is pleased with what he sees as an excellent signing for his boyhood club.

Downing told ITV Sport: “I think Middlesbrough have got a good signing here. He’s scored a lot of goals at this level and they’ve got a player on their hands. It’s not ideal to lose Ben Doak to injury, but I think that can benefit Whittaker because it means he comes straight into the side on the right, which is the position he likes to play.

“You can see in the types of goals he’s scored, he’s a very talented player. If he can get to the levels he was at at Plymouth, then I think they’ve got a hell of a player. What happened when he left Plymouth, I think that was just good PR on Plymouth’s part - I wouldn’t believe everything you read.

“In terms of his and [Finn] Azaz’s partnership, they were unbelievable together at Plymouth and it’ll be good for Whittaker to come straight into the action at his new club and have players around him he already knows. Hopefully they can continue that partnership here at Middlesbrough.”

Downing was speaking to ITV Sports while doing punditry work on Monday’s Tees-Wear derby, which ended in a 3-2 defeat for Michael Carrick’s side. Alongside him was Kevin Phillips, who while there on the night because of his affiliation with Sunderland, was able to offer some expert insight on the Boro new boy, having worked with him while coaching at Derby County, where Whittaker came through the youth ranks.

Phillips said: “I had Morgan when I was at Derby. He was just a young lad but you could see even then he had real potential. He had a wonderful left foot. He was very slight then and would get pushed off the ball too easily. But you could see that he was going to develop into a really fine player.

"I think he needed to leave Derby and go and progress and develop as a player. This move is a huge move for him because we’ve seen the kind of quality they bring to this football club. Morgan is an experienced player now and he’ll come here hoping to prove himself. If he plays like he has at Plymouth then Middlesbrough have signed an excellent player.”