Middlesbrough's 'good step' at QPR that Michael Carrick hopes has bigger implications

Michael Carrick felt Middlesbrough took a 'good step' for the season in their 4-1 victory over QPR as they avoided suffering a similar fate to recent away games.

Boro had failed to win their last two on the road from winning positions as they lost 2-1 at Watford and then drew 3-3 at Norwich despite leading 3-1. Having taken a 2-0 lead at QPR, they made harder work of it than they might have as QPR grabbed a second-half goal to half the deficit.

And while they were by no means as comfortable as the scoreline suggests, Boro were able to pass a big mentality test and avoid a collapse from a winning position, as Emmanuel Latte Lath and Dan Barlaser grabbed late goals from the bench to add to Riley McGree and Tommy Conway's first half strikes.

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“I’m delighted," Carrick said. "We had to work for it, to be honest. I thought we played some really good football in spells. Maybe not as long as we wanted to, and we could have made it a little bit easier for ourselves, but credit to QPR for that.

"They made us work for it, but I thought the quality of the goals and some of the football was really good. We showed a bit of character and composure in the second half to see the game through. It’s a good step for the boys.

"It was a test tonight. It was a test at 2-1 to see what happened next. But I thought we dealt with that ever so well, and the boys coming off the bench made a really positive impact for us, seeing the game out. It was a nice way to see it out."

With Boro passing that character test and getting that monkey off the back of recent collapses from winning positions, Carrick is not getting carried away, but is hoping in hindsight it will prove a big moment in the season for Boro.

He continued: "There’ll be times when we win games playing well, there’ll be others where we’re maybe not so good. But the boys know they always have to give absolutely everything, and they do. The attitude and effort is absolutely top-drawer. You can never ask questions about that, but maybe it’s just that little bit of experience in terms of seeing games out and knowing how to react in certain situations.

“I’m not getting carried away it, but it’s a really good step, without doubt. For us to come here and win the game, however we won it, was important tonight. The way it happened, I think the boys will take a big boost from it, and they’ll certainly take a pat on the back for it from me. They’ll take a lot from knowing we’ve seen that one off."