00:00Michael Carrick was still a relaxed figure as he walked into the media room at Middlesbrough's
00:06training ground on Thursday afternoon. Despite the disappointing loss at North-East rival
00:11Sunderland, Carrick's focus was very much on the next match with Stoke City heading
00:16to the Riverside, a team who have already beaten Middlesbrough in the League Cup this
00:20season.
00:21Whatever type of game it is, there's all sorts of different types of games in this
00:27league that we're challenging, we're facing. The next one is always the most important
00:32one. It's about picking points over the course of the season, over a long period of time.
00:38The next one in front of us is this one. We understand what we're up against. It's a new
00:44manager being in just over a week or so. That provides a bit of a twist on the game as well
00:52when you're trying to see what they're going to do and look at it that way. There'll be
00:57a lot of new things that he's going to try and implement. We've got to be ready for that.
01:04In recent times, Stoke have become something of a bogey team for Borough, although Carrick
01:08was adamant that nothing would change their approach to the match, even with Stoke recently
01:13appointing a new manager.
01:17I don't need any leverage. I think the boys are focused on the next game really and hungry
01:21to try to win football matches. We're doing a lot of really good things in the way that
01:26we're playing the game. We've got to make that difference and make it count. We feel
01:31that we're really close. It's up to us to make that step and start putting more points
01:38on the board.
01:40One of the shining lights for Middlesbrough so far this season has been new signing Tommy
01:44Conway. His goals have boosted what has been a stop-start opening to the season for Borough
01:49where they would have liked more points on the board.
01:53Yes, Tommy's done well. It was a bit of a stop-start kind of summer with him of going
01:59away and then the transfer and getting up to speed. Scoring goals helps obviously. He's
02:07fitted in really well. He's settled in around the group again and trains fantastically well.
02:11He's got a really good attitude towards the game and improving. He's a joy to have around
02:15the group and work with, to be honest.
02:18Finally, Carrick spoke on his thoughts on how Borough have performed in the opening
02:23part of the campaign and made it clear he realises that more points need to start being
02:28won by his side if they are to challenge for championship promotion.
02:31Yes, it's easy to say momentum is going to come. It only comes if we make it happen.
02:38That's the challenge. Of course, I think we take confidence and belief from the way we're
02:44playing in games and the way the trajectory is going towards that. I'm not stupid, I understand
02:53we need points, we need to win games and we'll keep pushing and striving towards that.
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