Hamilton was seen as something of a statement signing when he joined from City 12 months ago but the winger endured a difficult first season on Teesside, making just two Championship starts before he went out on loan in January to Stockport, where he also struggled to make an impact.
Hamilton was left out of Boro’s matchday squad for Saturday’s Championship opener against Swansea, but Edwards insists the 21-year-old still has a future at the Riverside.
As things stand, Edwards hasn’t considered sending Hamilton out on loan this month, with the head coach instead of the opinion that the winger will benefit from staying at Boro, even if he isn’t featuring regularly.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Edwards has sat down with Hamilton on more than one occasion over the past couple of weeks and discussed with the winger his development, what he must do to improve and the best course of action moving forward.
Hamilton is likely to be part of the squad for tonight’s Carabao Cup first round tie against Doncaster Rovers, with Edwards revealing the winger’s absence on Saturday was “just a selection decision”.
He said: “It’s hard sometimes because you’ve got to leave one or two people out.
“He and I have had really good chats over the last few days and we both want to work hard together to help him as much as possible to show what he’s about.
“Sometimes you just have to make selections. He’s a young player and young players can take time. They’ve got to learn and got to learn what we want as well – our standards and our levels.
“He’s pretty clear on that now and is working extremely hard. There is certainly lots of talent there, no doubt about it.
“There is more to the game than just having lots of talent. That’s, at the moment, where we’re at today.
“Everyone as a team and staff are working as hard as possible to ensure we can help bring out the best in him, and he can bring out the best in himself too.”
Edwards added: “I enjoy the player-development side, but it’s not a quick fix.
“It can require patience and take time. Myself, Adi [Viveash] and Harry [Watling] have all come from that background of player development and youth football.
“It’s something we’re used to doing. We always say we’ll give all players our time, and that’s what we’ll continue doing.”
Boro had hoped Hamilton’s loan spell at Stockport earlier this year would give the youngster the opportunity to play regularly, but he didn’t start a single League One game and only made five appearances from the bench.
As things stand, another loan for Hamilton isn’t in Edwards’ thinking.
He said: “It’s not something we’ve spoken about at the moment because we feel like we can help him internally here, with his training and everything.
“Let’s see how that goes. It’s not something he or I have spoken about as yet.”
