Michael Carrick says Sammy Silvera can still have a future at Middlesbrough, despite his struggles on loan at Portsmouth in the first half of the season.

The forward was due to spend the season on loan at Fratton Park, where Boro visit in the Championship on Saturday. However, he struggled to make an impact at Pompey and the loan was cut short this week as the Australian instead moving to Blackpool in League One for the remainder of the season.

Despite that, Carrick refused to rule out Silvera returning to Boro in the summer and fighting for his place in the squad. He will closely monitor his developments at Bloomfield Road, and is hoping the 24-year-old uses his Pompey experiences to learn from and fuel his form in the third tier.

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With 12 months remaining on his Boro contract in the summer, asked if he could still have a future on Teesside, Carrick insisted: “For sure. You can never write anything off. He’s our player Sammy, and he did a lot of good things last season. I think that’s the nature of the loans at different times. Finding that pathway in your career. Certainly, he’s our player.

“It’s the loan situation where sometimes it goes to plan and you play loads of games, sometimes it goes to plan in terms of having a different experience and learning from that. You’ve got to use whatever experience to help you kick on to the next level.

“Sammy’s had some good games, but is obviously frustrated that he didn’t play nowhere near as much as he wanted to, and certainly as we did as well. So the plan now is that hopefully, and we believe he will, go to Blackpool, Steve [Bruce] will look after him, and he’ll have a big finish to the season.”

Silvera was only able to make 12 appearances at Portsmouth in the first half of the season, only half of which were starts. Having failed to find his feet, his most recent start saw Pompey fans chant for Silvera to be sent back to Boro.

Though the forward made 40 appearances for Boro last term, strengthened attacking depth this season meant he had little prospect of returning to the Riverside and forcing his way into Carrick’s immediate plans. With that in mind, finding the right next move was key, as Silvera heads to Blackpool with the aim of convincing Carrick and Boro that he can have a long-term impact on Teesside.

On how they settled on Blackpool as the destination for the Aussie international, Carrick explained: “There are a couple of sides to it. We wouldn’t make an option available to Sammy if we didn’t think it was a positive or good move. But certainly, Sammy should make the decision.

“He’s our player but he’s an individual. I know we all get caught up with football this and football that, it’s important of course it is, but I think when it comes to things like this, there’s the human side to consider.

“There is a lot that goes into these kinds of decisions and for Sammy, what he feels is best, what kind of club he wants to go to, what kind of manager he wants to play for, players he’s got to work with day in, day out etc. It’s a group decision for things like that.”

Elsewhere, Millwall boss Alex Neil gave an updated timeframe on when fellow boro loanee Josh Coburn will return to action. The striker suffered a broken metatarsal just three games into his return from a groin injury. Neil told Southwark News: “Coburn is more of a longer term one. So he won’t be ready for the remainder I think of this month.”