What most pleased Michael Carrick about Middlesbrough's 'effective' Swansea win

IT was by no means a classic, but Michael Carrick praised the patience of his Middlesbrough players, who continued their push for the Championship play-offs with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Swansea.

Emmanuel Latte Lath's double either side of half-time extended Boro's unbeaten run to seven games.

And although it wasn't the prettiest of performances, on a day when rivals Norwich City, Hull and Coventry all won, all that mattered was Boro managed to get the job done and pick up all three points.

RECOMMENDED READING:

• Latte Lath the star as Middlesbrough take Carrick's message on board against Swansea

• Leeds loanee continues contract push & shares top Boro marks with matchwinner

"I'm delighted to be honest," said Carrick.

"It's the type of game that can pass you by if you don't do the right things. I thought the boys were disciplined and effective and efficient in the work we wanted to do.

"We knew they're good in taking the ball in possession. We were patient and disciplined, defended the box well and defended in our half well.

"In the first half we pressed, won the ball back and created chances. It might not have been the most fluid but we were very effective with what we did.

"We had to be patient in different ways. The spike in temperatures made it difficult, in terms of sharpness, a bit warmer, the swirling wind makes it challenging. There were different factors, but it was a clean sheet, we were solid, we looked dangerous to score more goals than we did, so we have to take that as a real positive."

Boro have now kept five clean sheets in their last six games and Carrick believes his side have shown their different qualities in recent weeks.

"I think conditions made it tough," he said.

"If you look at Monday's game (the win over Sheffield Wednesday), there were different positives. Today we showed a different side to us that we might have lacked over a period of time in games when it's not flowing.

"Sometimes you have to be effective and I though we managed both sides of the game pretty well. It's a clean sheet and a win, we'll take that."