For Michael Carrick, the biggest area for improvement is also the biggest source of belief that Middlesbrough’s current fortunes can change.

Boro head to Stoke City on Tuesday evening hoping to end a five-match losing streak that has seen them slip into the bottom half of the Championship. In four of those five games, including last time out at Bristol City, they’ve surrendered positive positions to lose games in the final 15 minutes. It’s happened far too many times this season, with almost a third of the goals Boro have conceded this term coming in that final period of matches.

But as the Boro head coach continues to put a steely and determined face on things at a time of real frustration and pressure, belief was something he wanted to stress despite the difficult period. Asked what his side needed to improve on, he admitted the biggest thing was that game management late on, which incidentally, also provides the biggest source of belief for him.

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Carrick explained: “I think there's been a lot of times where we've been in good positions in games, really, and finishing games off and managing games towards the second half is something we need to improve on. The effort, the togetherness and the attitude the boys are showing at the moment can’t be faulted.

“Let's be honest, it's challenging when you're not winning games. And it doesn't necessarily mean that you can just keep dusting yourself off and going again, and attacking the next game or the next training session. But the boys have been unbelievable with that.

“I can feel that they’re ready to win games, and then we’ve got to put that into practice. But I don't think we're miles away. I think the amount of times we've been up in games and let games probably get away from us, we're definitely taking the positive in the amount of time that we have been up in games, and we’ve just got to finish them off.”

He continued: “Honestly, the boys are outstanding at how they keep approaching things, and how positive they are, and how they've come together, if anything. Of course, in sport, you need things to go your way. You need little bits to feed off, to give you that extra little boost and that confidence.

“Sometimes it feels like nothing's going for you. But I think, for us as a group, the thing that shows us and gives us that hope and more belief than hope actually, is the amount of times we’ve been up in games and in good positions in games.

“We haven't finished the game off for whatever reason. But all that work that puts us in the real positive positions, it's not easy to come by. It takes good work. So we're feeding off that, and what we have done. We've got to do that a little bit more to finish off games now.”

Seeing games out has been a real issue this season. They’ve dropped far too many points from winning positions. As confidence takes a hit amid the recent slump in form, Carrick has reiterated to his players the importance of being strong characters and not overthinking things or becoming too desperate for a result.

“In terms of how we see the games out - little things we do towards the end of the game, a bit of mentality, a little bit of getting that feeling of winning and not overthinking it as well,” he said. “It can come into play where you really overthink it too much. I want the boys to keep doing what we're good at.

“We can never forget what we're good at as a group: what our strengths are, and certainly as individuals, as players as well: what works for us. I think that's clear. At times you can go off track a little bit. It's quite easy to question certain things, but it's really important to understand what we are good at and double down on that, because that's what's got us the good positions in games. It's what put us in a good position in the league not so long ago, and it's where all the belief comes from. So it's important we do that.

“The lads are so desperate and so keen to do well, and do well for each other, and do well for the club, that it can almost have a counter effect because you're trying so hard you maybe forget about something you need to do. It becomes so desperate and they’re so keen and hungry. The intentions are fantastic. Sometimes you can overthink things a little bit though. You’ve got to take a deep breath and understand what we're good at and focus on more of that, and take the belief and the confidence from that.”

The next opportunity to turn their fortunes comes on Tuesday evening at Stoke City. Now managed by Carrick’s old adversary Mark Robins, the Potters are just five points above the relegation zone after a long period of inconsistency. A cold Tuesday night in Stoke is not exactly the ideal setting for a game that feels close to a must-win for Boro and Carrick as he finds his job increasingly under pressure. Nor is a game against Robins who, while manager of Coventry City, didn’t lose any of his six games against Carrick - including that heartbreaking play-off semi-final in 2023.

On a reunion with Robins, Carrick said: “There's always thoughts, as we speak about quite a lot, of different ways of what we think they might do, what we need to do, how we can exploit it. They'll be thinking the same against us. In terms of past Middlesbrough-Coventry games though, I don't think that's relevant, really.

“Especially as we are - the feeling as we are, and wanting to go into the next game to win and be the best we can be. He's only gone in fairly recently, and had a mixture of results really - had some really good ones. I think they've got a really talented team, some really good individuals, and obviously Mark’s, kind of putting them together and producing a team. Listen, we know Stoke are a good team. It's always a tough place to go. It goes without saying, Mark’s a good manager, so we've got to be ready for whatever they throw at us.”