Middlesbrough Head Coach, Michael Carrick has called for his cup heroes to refocus and wipe the slate clean ahead of a tricky away test against Millwall this weekend.
Nobody would blame the players for still floating around the training ground on cloud nine after their dramatic and pulsating win against Chelsea in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday evening. But they must now recalibrate and switch their attention back to the all-consuming Championship schedule.
Level-headed approach
Even when things have not gone to plan, Carrick has always been pragmatic and stayed level-headed in these situations and during his pre-match presser via the club website, even joked about answering too many Carabao Cup themed questions ahead of the encounter at The Den, smiling as he said, “Maybe that’s the last question I’ll have about Chelsea.”
Middlesbrough worked extremely hard as a cohesive unit in the 1-0 win on Tuesday, and although their confidence should be buoyed by the performance, Carrick insists that has now gone and they must forget it if they want to achieve the consistency they so crave.
On the topic of focusing on the task in hand, he admitted, “Yeah, I’m not afraid to say that, we have spoken about that today. It’s imperative we wipe the slate clean and start again.”
He does not anticipate motivation being a problem though, adding, “The boys have been good, they came in really focused this morning, obviously in good spirits and in a good place so, we’ll channel that in the right way.”
Inconsistencies in the league
Despite their heroic efforts in the cup, Middlesbrough sit in 12th place in the Championship. The position, if not disappointing, then a little frustrating given the talent they possess. The club are just 4 points away from a play-off spot, and context has to be applied, given the horrendous run of bad luck they’ve had with injuries.
Carrick, whilst acknowledging the inconsistent league form, says Boro still have it all to play for on both fronts. “I’ve said it for a bit, consistency is key,” was the candid response from Carrick when asked about Boro’s league displays. “We know what we’re capable of, we’ve shown it again this week, we’ve shown it over a period of time, we’ve shown it over the Christmas period and we know what we are capable of doing, it’s putting it together.
“There’s challenges with that, of course there is in terms of suspensions at times, injuries and what have you, if we can be consistent, then we have a real chance.”
Boro boosted by new arrivals
With the new additions of Finn Azaz and Luke Ayling, and the return from injury of Lewis O’Brien and Marcus Forss, Boro have a chance to freshen the group up and put a run together in the league, and even though some fans see this season’s Championship campaign is one of transition, Carrick clearly still believes, that with the belief they have, there is plenty to play for in the division. He said, “There’s so much to play for, I said it over the Christmas period, there’s a huge opportunity to try and achieve something, both in the cup competitions and in the league.
“We have had a mini break with the two cup games and now we’re back in to the thick of it again, so, I think we can take a lot of positives from the last week.”