Michael Carrick clarifies Ben Doak situation after Boro's FA Cup defeat to Blackburn
MICHAEL CARRICK insists it was his decision to leave Ben Doak out of the squad for Middlesbrough’s FA Cup defeat to Blackburn Rovers – not an instruction from Liverpool.
Doak was absent from the matchday squad as Boro crashed out of the Cup at the third-round stage, sparking suggestions Liverpool had prevented him from playing amid speculation that he could be sold during this month’s transfer window.
Carrick insists that was not the case, stating that he opted to give Doak a rest along with the likes of Finn Azaz and Neto Borges, who were also left out of the matchday group.
“Ben was just rested, exactly the same as Neto and Finn as well,” said the Boro boss. “We’ve made changes throughout the season and it’s worked fine.
“We made them today, for different reasons, but we certainly came here to win the game, and had the belief we could. I’m not too happy that we haven’t.
“I thought there were, generally speaking, a couple of good performances – Law (McCabe) was particularly bright and showed really good quality and dealt with the game really well.”
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Boro exited the FA Cup at the third-round stage for the fourth time in the last five seasons as Blackburn repeated their league success at the Riverside from earlier in the season.
Andreas Weimann scored the only goal of the game, hammering home from close to the penalty spot after Matt Clarke failed to deal with a cross from the left.
“We’re disappointed to lose the game, and definitely in the way that we did,” said Carrick. “No goal is a good goal to concede, but that was one I thought we could have done an awful lot more to stop. I’m disappointed with that.
“It was a tight game really, with not much in it. There wasn’t much of a spark or an attacking threat from either side. It always felt like a game where one goal would decide it. As it turned out, I was disappointed with that.”
Carrick was also disappointed with his side’s failure to ask any serious questions of Blackburn’s debutant goalkeeper, Balazs Toth.
“We had moments, but we struggled to break them down,” he said. “(There were) a couple of opportunities, but ultimately, we just couldn’t find it on the day.
“We make plenty of changes through the season at times and still carry the rhythm and level of performance needed. Today, we just didn’t quite have that difference to be a good team. In the end, they found that moment and it’s a disappointment.”
