Michael Carrick is hoping Luke Ayling’s injury is not too serious, after the Boro defender was forced off after a collision with his own team-mate.

Moments after putting in a big challenge that got the Boro fans’ appreciation, Ayling collided with Ben Doak in a nasty moment that left the Boro right-back in clear pain. Going down injured, he spent a few moments off the pitch as Boro played on with ten-men before returning to action.

Ayling went down the tunnel while off, with Carrick revealing after that he’d actually had stitches put in his foot. But rather than that as the reason he was forced off, it was the knee injury from the collision with Doak that caused the damage which meant he couldn’t play on as he was replaced after just 20 minutes by Anfernee Dijksteel.

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Carrick said after: “It was Luke’s knee in the end that forced him off, and it was actually because of a contact from Ben. He came off originally because he cut his foot, and he went and got two or three stitches in his foot.

“He came back on, but then when he came back on, it was his knee that was the problem. It was the impact (from Doak) that did the damage, so we’ll have to see how he goes. It was disappointing to lose him, and we’ll have to see how he is.”

Ayling’s return to the starting line-up was one of five changes that Carrick made from the midweek defeat at Leeds United. Among them was the surprise inclusion of Rav van den Berg, with the classy Dutch defender out since October’s draw at Norwich City.

He put in an excellent display in a tough game, with Jonny Howson and Delano Burgzorg solid on their returns to the starting line-up, as was Sol Brynn, who made two big saves after replacing Seny Dieng.

On making so many changes, Carrick said: “It was good to have Rav back. We made five changes altogether, and it’s important for everyone that we have the squad that means we’re able to do that.

“It’s good moving forward, through the season, that we can do that and mix things up, and freshen things up when we need to. We can do that, and still get the right results and level of performance. I thought Rav came through the game really well, and that was a real positive.”