'It was one of my favourite wins' - Michael Carrick's view on Boro beating Millwall

MICHAEL CARRICK claims Middlesbrough’s 1-0 victory over Millwall was one of his “favourite wins” as Boro boss thanks to the way in which his players dug deep to claim all three points.

Emmanuel Latte Lath’s tenth-minute strike proved decisive as Boro returned to winning ways at the end of a week that had seen them pick up just one point from matches against Burnley and Leeds United.

Millwall made life difficult for the Teessiders, who were indebted to goalkeeper Sol Brynn for two crucial first-half saves.

But despite his side being unable to add to Latte Lath’s opener, Carrick was delighted with the spirit and resolve that enabled them to keep their opponents at arm’s length.

“It’s probably one of my favourite wins to be honest,” said the Boro boss. “Because of how the game was and what we had to do to win it. To win 1-0 like that was very pleasing.

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“We knew it was going to be a super-tight game, that’s what they’ve been involved with and that’s how they make games. They’re an extremely tough team to play against, so to win was great.

“Listen, we can play better. We can play better football and create better chances. We had opportunities to do that, some of the football was really good, but the last little bit was maybe a bit off at times.

“But it was a fantastic goal, and there were things we had to do and draw on to find a way to win, in the end. The way we defended was particularly pleasing.

“Sol made two saves early on, which were really important, but I thought as the game went on after that, we defended fantastically well. We defended from the front as a team, and limited them to not too much, so for those reasons, I was delighted.”

Boro’s victory lifted them back into the play-off places in sixth position, eight points adrift of second-placed Leeds United.

It ensured Carrick and his players were able to draw a line under Tuesday’s defeat at Elland Road, showcasing the kind of doggedness that will always be required at some stage over the course of a Championship campaign.

“You’re going to have to win games like that over the course of a season,” said Carrick. “It’s something we’ve spoken about.

“It’s all very well playing well, and well enough to win games, but you’ve got to actually win those games and sometimes it takes an extra little skill-set or an extra little dynamic to get over the line. We had to find that today, and the boys did it well.”