'This is what it shows' - Boro boss' reaction to Burnley draw and future prediction
MICHAEL CARRICK feels Middlesbrough’s two draws with Burnley have highlighted the levels his side are capable of hitting as they attempt to thrust themselves into the heart of the promotion race.
Having drawn 1-1 at Turf Moor at the start of this month, Boro claimed another point off the Clarets as they played out a goalless draw at the Riverside last night.
Scott Parker’s Burnley side are one point off the automatic positions, having won at Sheffield United on Boxing Day.
Boro forced their way back into the play-off places with last night’s draw, and while the memory of Boxing Day’s second-half capitulation against Sheffield Wednesday remains hard to shift, Carrick feels his side have shown their capabilities provided they play to their maximum level.
“Over the two games, with the run they’ve (Burnley) been on, for us to do that, I think we can take lots of positives,” said the Boro boss. “It shows that when we’re at a certain level, we’re a good team.
“We’ve just got to find that consistency to get where we want to be. That’s the feeling really. It’s really positive and encouraging moving forward because it shows that we can do it. If we’d shown that we couldn’t do it, and we were constantly unable to reach those levels, then it would be a completely different situation.”
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Having watched his side concede three goals in the space of 14 chaotic second-half minutes on Boxing Day, Carrick was delighted with his side’s defensive resilience last night.
Tom Glover barely had a save to make as Boro successfully shackled their opponents, with Dael Fry and George Edmundson both impressing at the heart of the back four.
On too many occasions this season, Carrick’s side have had a soft centre, regularly conceding a flurry of goals in a short spell.
There have been other games, however, in which they have proved extremely hard to break down, and while a lack of consistency is clearly an issue, Carrick is convinced he has a side that can be defensively secure.
“There’s been quite a lot of the season, at different points, where we have defended well and we haven’t given a lot away,” he said. “I thought you saw that (against Burnley).
“Over the whole pitch, you could see a really high level of defending, whether that was high up the pitch, blocking spaces, or defending the box when we had to. There were a lot of really good things for us to take moving forward.”
