Middlesbrough were held to a 1-1 draw by Preston North End on Saturday afternoon.
Michael Carrick welcomed Preston North End to the Riverside Stadium on September 14th, aiming to pick up their third win of the season.
Boro headed into the game on the back of a 2-0 win over Cardiff City prior to the international break and boosted by the deadline day additions of Ben Doak and George Edmundson.
The latter was in from the off against Preston, while Doak came on for the final 23 minutes of the match.
Edmundson played a key role in Boro’s goal, pinging the ball to Luke Ayling who fizzed a pass across the away side’s box for Tommy Conway to convert.
However, as has often been the case this season, Middlesbrough lacked any sort of killer instinct and could not double their lead in the first half despite dominating.
Carrick’s men were once again punished for this, with Mads Frokjaer-Jensen putting the Lilywhites back on level terms right before the break.
Michael Carrick must drop Dan Barlaser after Preston North End display
It was a frustrating afternoon for Middlesbrough, who have dropped down to 10th in the Championship table.
| Position | Team | PlayedMP | WonW | DrawnD | LostL | ForGF | AgainstGA | DiffGD | PointsPts |
| 6 |  BlackburnBlackburn | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| 7 |  BurnleyBurnley | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 7 |
| 8 |  MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 9 |  Oxford UnitedOxford United | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| 10 | DerbyDerby | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 6 |
A few players struggled during the draw, with Emmanuel Latte Lath nowhere near his clinical best against Preston.
However, it was Dan Baralser who offered Middlesbrough the least at either end of the pitch.
Aidan Morris has impressed on international duty for the USA this week, but the American played in the early hours of Wednesday morning for his country, giving him little time to fly back to Middlesbrough and prepare for this game.
As a result, Carrick opted to start Barlaser alongside Hayden Hackney in the centre of midfield against Paul Heckingbottom’s side.
The former Rotherham United man offered little attacking threat and was nowhere near as aggressive as Morris normally is when it comes to pressing.
With a huge game against Sunderland now on the horizon, Carrick would be wise to drop Barlaser and bring Morris back into the starting line-up.
- READ MORE: Josh Coburn names the key reason he left Middlesbrough, Michael Carrick couldn’t offer him one thing
Dan Barlaser is running out of chances at Middlesbrough
The 27-year-old joined the Teessiders in January 2023 from Rotherham for around £1m.
He made 33 league appearances during the 2023/24 campaign, but that was largely down to Boro lacking quality options in midfield.
This term, however, Carrick has signed Morris and is starting to offer more playing time to academy graduate, Law McCabe.
So, with more options available in his position and Barlaser continuing to underwhelm in every game he plays, it is hard to see the Englishman having much of a future in the North East.
Barlaser had transfer interest from Turkey over the summer and it may be best for all parties if Boro aim to move him on in January or next summer.