Middlesbrough Head Coach Michael Carrick remained calm following his side’s defeat against Sunderland in terms of the performances his side are putting in, but admitted they need to start picking up more points if they are to challenge at the top end of the table. Daniel Wales reports.
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00:00Michael Carrick was still a relaxed figure as he walked into the media room at Middlesbrough's
00:06training ground on Thursday afternoon. Despite the disappointing loss at North-East rival
00:11Sunderland, Carrick's focus was very much on the next match with Stoke City heading
00:16to the Riverside, a team who have already beaten Middlesbrough in the League Cup this
00:20season.
00:21Whatever type of game it is, there's all sorts of different types of games in this
00:27league that we're challenging, we're facing. The next one is always the most important
00:32one. It's about picking points over the course of the season, over a long period of time.
00:38The next one in front of us is this one. We understand what we're up against. It's a new
00:44manager being in just over a week or so. That provides a bit of a twist on the game as well
00:52when you're trying to see what they're going to do and look at it that way. There'll be
00:57a lot of new things that he's going to try and implement. We've got to be ready for that.
01:04In recent times, Stoke have become something of a bogey team for Borough, although Carrick
01:08was adamant that nothing would change their approach to the match, even with Stoke recently
01:13appointing a new manager.
01:17I don't need any leverage. I think the boys are focused on the next game really and hungry
01:21to try to win football matches. We're doing a lot of really good things in the way that
01:26we're playing the game. We've got to make that difference and make it count. We feel
01:31that we're really close. It's up to us to make that step and start putting more points
01:38on the board.
01:40One of the shining lights for Middlesbrough so far this season has been new signing Tommy
01:44Conway. His goals have boosted what has been a stop-start opening to the season for Borough
01:49where they would have liked more points on the board.
01:53Yes, Tommy's done well. It was a bit of a stop-start kind of summer with him of going
01:59away and then the transfer and getting up to speed. Scoring goals helps obviously. He's
02:07fitted in really well. He's settled in around the group again and trains fantastically well.
02:11He's got a really good attitude towards the game and improving. He's a joy to have around
02:15the group and work with, to be honest.
02:18Finally, Carrick spoke on his thoughts on how Borough have performed in the opening
02:23part of the campaign and made it clear he realises that more points need to start being
02:28won by his side if they are to challenge for championship promotion.
02:31Yes, it's easy to say momentum is going to come. It only comes if we make it happen.
02:38That's the challenge. Of course, I think we take confidence and belief from the way we're
02:44playing in games and the way the trajectory is going towards that. I'm not stupid, I understand
02:53we need points, we need to win games and we'll keep pushing and striving towards that.