Creating much needed stability on his left flank could give Michael Carrick food for thought throughout January.

It’s the one area of the side where selection doubts remain especially with regard to pinpointing the leading contenders for the roles. Neto Borges has had a long run at left-back but defensively the question marks remain.

While Delano Burgzorg was occasionally threatening in attack against Burnley he offered little support for Borges when Boro were under pressure. In fact, there was a 20-minute spell in the first half when Burnley enjoyed the Freedom of Middlesbrough on Boro’s left hand side.

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Carrick later replaced both players. It was good to see Lukas Engel get his feet under the table again while Riley McGree clearly enjoyed a taste of the action. Yet Engel, despite wearing his heart on his sleeve, is not the greatest defender in the world while McGree needs a run in the side to get back to his very best.

All four players offer the side a great deal when going forward, which means they all fit in nicely when Boro are pressurising opponents. Burgzorg in particular gave Burnley a few early headaches though Scott Parker’s men eventually got wise to the fact that Burgzorg kept turning and trying to cut inside when running forward with the ball at his feet.

What we need on the left flank is for the competition for places to bring out the best of the contenders. If this happens, the team as a whole can only benefit. It’s a different case on the right where Anfernee Dijksteel has got the bit between his teeth and is producing some of his best football for the club.

Dijksteel’s enterprising form means that Luke Ayling faces a major challenge for the right-back spot, while when Ben Doak is not firing on all cylinders we have Isaiah Jones showing a determined approach in challenging for the role. Overall, Boro have done well to finish the year in sixth place, especially as they have begun to pick up injuries again.

The clean sheet was a credit to the whole side, especially after the three-goal setbacks against Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday. This vital shut-out needs to pinpoint the way forward for the team because they are not always going to go on goal sprees as they did in November.

Dael Fry’s excellent effort against Burnley, especially his remarkable goal-line heroics in keeping out what seemed a certain goal, should be used as a rallying call for the whole team. Fry has bounced back from injury with a bang and, with George Edmundson still producing some superb workmanlike performances alongside.

We should have excellent competition for centre-back places when Rav van den Berg is back again. While it’s not his usual role, van den Berg could also do a job at left-back if necessary. It’s more food for thought.

One thing Boro do need is to try to get Finn Azaz free from the shackles to in order to take bigger control of games. Burnley appeared to identify Azaz as the man who makes Boro tick more than most, and they were probably right in this assumption.

Azaz was tightly marked and as a result was not as effective as we need him to be. It’s something which should be looked at. Maybe Azaz could operate slightly deeper when teams are attempting to shut him out of games.

Despite this, the main danger to Boro at the moment comes from the increasing injury list. Carrick does not want it to get any worse. In fact with a reasonable run of games on the horizon at the start of 2025, the manager could do with as many options as possible as Boro try to gather enough points to fully establish themselves in the play-off places.