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Michael Carrick’s ‘dangerous’ verdict after Coventry City continue to be thorn in Middlesbrough’s side
Michael Carrick believes Coventry City’s start and finish to the game was where it was won and lost against a “dangerous” side who went into the match in a false league position.
The Sky Blues travelled to the Riverside Stadium looking for their first away victory of their Championship campaign and hoping to back up last weekend’s CBS Arena win over Luton Town – a result that lifted them out of the bottom three.
Asked if he feels the West Midlands club have been in a false position in the division, the Boro boss told CoventryLive: “I said it before the game, they’re a good team and they have been up there and been challenging, certainly for the last couple of years since I have been here. So we took them for that team and they are dangerous, you know. We knew they are dangerous and that’s how it ended up.”
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Carrick explained in his post-match press conference how he assessed the game, which saw his team reduced to 10 men after 22 minutes when midfielder Hayden Hackney picked a second yellow card for a foul on Brandon Thomas-Asante. Coventry then took the lead from a Bobby Thomas header before the break and then picked off the home side with two late goals from Haji Wright and Josh Eccles in the space of five minutes to complete the 3-0 scoreline.
“It was the start and the end that cost us really,” said Carrick. “I thought we dealt with going down to ten men pretty well, to be honest, for the most part. We didn’t start particularly well, were a little bit edgy and didn’t really settle into the game.
“We still had the first two opportunities with Hayden and Riley having a couple of decent chances early on. But we didn’t particularly start well and then go down to ten. I thought in the most part we dealt with going down pretty well. But the first two goals are disappointing.
“I thought we dealt well with a lot of what they threw at us after the red, but the two goals are pretty straightforward goals that aren’t down to being a man down; they’re just two goals that we should do better with. As the game was going, we looked in a decent place and looking like we could get back into the game, we give away a really simple goal. In the end, that makes a difference.”
On the start to the game in particular, he continued: “We just didn’t quite find our level - it wasn’t quite there. It wasn’t work-rate or attitude as such, we just weren’t at it and didn’t settle into the game. Having said that, we still have the first two good chances in the game on the break.
“But, if anything, I thought we were better in the game after we went down to ten men. It kind of forced us to settle down and play a bit. In the end, the second goal is the one that kills us. The end of the game is the end of the game; it can happen. It’s more what led up to that, really, which frustrates me, and we’ll have to focus on.”
