Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick hailed Middlesbrough’s ‘decimated’ squad as they turned in a professional performance to dispatch Port Vale, winning 3-0 in the Carabao Cup Quarter Final.
The Teesside outfit now await the final match of the last 8 before learning of their two-legged opponents for a place in the Final in the competition they won 20 years ago under Steve McClaren.
Speaking to BBC Tees Sport in a post-match interview, Carrick described his side as ‘terrific’ in terms of the way they dealt with the occasion and the lack of senior numbers in the group at the moment.
The Boro boss beamed, “It looked comfortable, it felt comfortable with ten or fifteen minutes to go, but you have got to earn that and put yourself in a position and I think we have all seen enough times, these type of games can go the other way quite quickly.”
Boro’s ‘decimated’ squad
Acknowledging the difficulty his side face with the lengthy injury list, he added, “We’re kind of decimated in terms of numbers in the squad and we will see how the one or two are tonight that we have suffered niggles from, but it’s part of the journey, we’re enjoying it, we’re in the semi-finals, who would have said that, who would have thought it? It’s a great thing to look forward to.”
Goals from captain Jonny Howson and Morgan Rogers gave Boro a commanding first-half lead and they crushed any remaining spirit Port Vale had by adding a third through midfielder Matt Crooks early in the second period, but the already exhaustive injury count was added to during the cup tie, with Emannuel Latte Lath, Isaiah Jones, Morgan Rogers and Matt Crooks all going off with knocks. Rav van den Berg was also a casualty before the game having suffered from a ‘stiff back’ as a result of a collision in Saturday’s encounter with Swansea.
Carrick admitted that some of the substitutes were precautionary as they prepare for a bumper Christmas period that starts with West Brom at home on Saturday. “We had to manage Manu (Emannuel Latte Lath), he felt his hamstring a bit. Izzy (Isaiah Jones) felt his hamstring, which was part of why he didn’t start because he’d been carrying a bit of a niggle and he put in a hell of a shift on Saturday, so it was managing that a little bit, so we managed him second half when we could get him off the pitch and Crooksy, yeah, so, they’re adding up but we have been talking about that for a good number of weeks now, and we have found a way and managed, so we’ll have to keep finding a way.”
Silver lining for Boro’s youngsters
Whilst the crocked count seems to worsen each week, Boro’s Head Coach refuses to use it as a negative and instead heralds the silver lining that has enabled the youngsters at the club the chance to join up with the first team squad. Two more of Boro’s academy products got a taste of the action against Port Vale, with Premier League Two hot-shot Calum Kavanagh very nearly registering his first senior goal for the club and 17-year-old starlet Law McCabe coming on as a second-half substitute to sample some valuable first team experience.
Calum, son of former Boro midfielder Graham Kavanagh, has enjoyed some sizzling form of late and recently bagged four goals in the Premier League Cup competition.
Middlesbrough will hope that some of those on the treatment table will be back in the coming weeks as the schedule-which will now include a Carabao Cup semi-final over two legs and an FA Cup third round fixture-intensifies. Hayden Hackney, Marcus Forss and Riley McGree could make welcome returns soon.