Adam Clayton’s timing could not have been worse.

The 28-year-old Middlesbrough midfielder joined Manchester City’s academy at the age of seven, but by the time he got to the first team he found his route blocked by a wall of expensive bought-in talent.

“Probably the year before me were the last people to get through – Micah Richards and [Michael] Johnson,” he says. “Then I think the money really came in. My first pre-season with the first team they signed Robinho for £34m, so yeah – you can’t really compete with that.”

At the start of the 2009-10 season, Clayton had been on the verge of a breakthrough, and a first taste of Premier League football. At another club, at another time, he probably would have got his wish.

Tottenham, who welcome Clayton’s Middlesbrough to White Hart Lane this weekend, stand out as an all too rare example of a club willing to blood young academy talent – midfielder Harry Winks is the latest to benefit.

At City, especially in the immediate aftermath of the money coming in, there was little of that patience. “I played every game in pre-season for Mark Hughes, and then he signed Gareth Barry a couple of days before the season,” Clayton remembers. “Obviously you can’t say anything because he was an England international and he’s a top, top player.”

There’s no bitterness in Clayton’s words, but there is a sense of lingering frustration that he wasn’t given a chance to prove himself at his hometown club. “You’ve got to go and find your trade somewhere else, and obviously I’ve done that and been lucky enough to still make it,” he says. “I’m really proud of the path that I’ve taken. I’ve really had to work for it, and it’s a nice feeling when you finally get to do it.”

Following the advice of then-City teammate Craig Bellamy, Clayton opted to drop down the divisions to League One, and a loan spell at Carlisle. That earned him another loan and then a permanent move to Leeds, but it’s at Huddersfield where Clayton really made his mark – establishing himself as one of the Championship’s best midfielders. “I played 20-odd games in League One which isn’t a lot on loan, and then was into the Championship from then on. I played for some good teams, with the Leeds United team we finished seventh, so I’ve always been knocking on the door [of the Premier League] to try and get up there.”

He played 85 games for Huddersfield in two seasons, winning the club’s Player of the Year Award in 2013-14 and catching the eye of many a weary Football League Show viewer with his huge blue-and-white beard.

Clayton has been an ever-present in the Middlesbrough midfield this season (Getty)

It was his football ability rather than his facial hair – now vastly reduced to a light stubble, alas - that attracted the immediate attention of Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka. “I remember my first game against Huddersfield, and five minutes into the match I asked ‘who is that player with the beard?” the Spaniard told the Teesside Gazette last year.

Since taking charge in November 2013, Karanka has re-shaped Middlesbrough into a more solid defensive unit. “The season before I came I think we finished 14th in the Championship,” says Clayton, who signed the following summer. “Aitor came in, and I think that was his remit really, to go and start from the back and not concede goals. He went on a run of five games without conceding a goal when he first came in, but didn’t score one either. I think that’s just his way of playing, he keeps it solid and we try to play some nice stuff on the ball.”

Clayton impressed Karanka in his very first match against the Spaniard (Getty)

You sense that the defensive solidity is a point of pride at Middlesbrough’s Rockliffe Park training ground, where we speak to Clayton on the indoor artificial pitch. “I think our goal difference is minus seven, and if you look at the teams around us they’re on minus 22, minus 23,” he says.

I think probably up to the top 10 of the Premier League now they’re very similar, and then there’s a jump, and then you get to the top four and then there’s a big jump Adam Clayton

In 2013-14, Boro scored 62 goals but conceded 50 and finished 14th. In 2015-16, they scored 63 times, but conceded just 31 goals and sealed second place and automatic promotion with a nail-biting 1-1 draw against third-placed Brighton on the last day of the season. “We made it, fortunately, on the last day of the season with eight minutes stoppage time,” says Clayton. “We made it and now we’ve got to keep hold of that status and try and stay in the league.”

They’re 15th at the moment, two points above the relegation zone with games against Spurs, Everton and Crystal Palace coming up. “We’ve really enjoyed it,” says Clayton of the often-difficult step up to the top flight. “I think if we could have scored one or two goals in certain games – because I think we’ve kept seven or eight clean sheets in the league. If you could turn two or three of those 0-0 draws [there have been four] into 1-0 wins obviously we’d be mid-table and really enjoying ourselves.”

There are usually predictions of doom for the teams coming up from the Championship – but in truth the gap in quality is perhaps not that wide. “I think probably up to the top 10 of the Premier League now they’re very similar, and then there’s a jump, and then you get to the top four and then there’s a big jump,” says Clayton. “I think with those teams, they’ve got to have an off day and you’ve got to have a really good day to win.”

Clayton will be known to many for his lengthy beard during his Huddersfield days (Getty)

Middlesbrough’s league wins have come against teams around them at the bottom – Sunderland, Bournemouth, Hull and Swansea – but they’ve taken points off Arsenal, Man City and Leicester with gutsy draws.

Against Saturday’s opponent’s Spurs in November, Boro were 2-0 down within 25 minutes to a Son Heung-min brace, but produced a much better performance in the second half and earned a consolation goal through centre-back Ben Gibson, who is another example of the untapped talents available at academies.

There’s a challenge now to keep that buffer on the relegation zone Adam Clayton

“No team has really passed us off the park, probably bar Liverpool, they were really good – they’ve done that to many a team,” says Clayton. “I think we can take confidence in what we’ve done, who we’ve played and how we’ve played. I think there’s a challenge now to keep that buffer on the relegation zone. We’d have probably taken that at the start of the year.”

The biggest difference, according to Clayton, is that his side get much less time on the ball at the top level. “It’s a tougher standard, and we haven’t got the ball as much,” says. “But when we do get a chance, we’ve scored and we’ve won a few games. I don’t think anyone needs to panic.”