NEW boy Justin Hoyte admitted he can't wait to play in front of the Riverside fans after seeing them roar Boro to victory against his old club's North London rivals.

The 23-year-old was impressed with the electric atmosphere as a 32,000-plus opening day crowd played their part in getting Boro off to a flying start.

And after being introduced to the supporters before the kick-off, Hoyte already feels he's going to be at home on Teesside.

"I got a great reaction from the fans and I'd like to thank them for their support," said Hoyte, who, predictably, was not as warmy received by the away end as by the rest of the stadium.

"Watching the game today I can see there's great support here and I can't wait to play in front of them.

"I was at Sunderland for a while so I know the North East quite well, it's tough because I was an Arsenal supporter as well but you have to make decisions in football, and this is a new chapter in my career.

"Arsenal are a great club and always will be and hopefully Middlesbrough will get to that level too. I was a London boy, hopefully I'll be a North East boy now!"

It was something of a whirlwind week for England U21 right-back Hoyte, who was in Holland with Arsenal during the week before the move to Boro materialised.

In an exclusive interview with mfc.co.uk, he said: "It was very strange travelling to a Champions League qualifier and being on the bench for that game and the next day coming to training and finding out I was coming to Middlesbrough, but it's something I'm looking forward to.

"It happened so fast, I found out Boro were interested, then they'd had a bid accepted and the next day I was up here having a medical.

But he said it wasn't a difficult decision to make after spending so long playing a bit part for the Gunners.

"As soon as I knew Middlesbrough were interested it was just a case of coming down, having a look and talking to the manager," he said.

"It's an opportunity to get regular football after not playing as many games as I wanted to at Arsenal. It's a chance to go out and show I can play and hopefully play every week and keep up my consistency.

"I've played with Stewart Downing, Andrew Taylor and Gary O'Neil in the England U21s and I've also played with Jeremie Aliadiere and Julio Arca so I already know quite a few of the lads and I'm sure they'll help me settle in just fine."

As for the future, Hoyte sees no reason why playing regularly in the Premier League can't help him move up from U21 to full international football.

"Everybody wants to play for their country and if I perform well I want to move on to the England stage," he said.