MICHAEL CARRICK cannot wait for more after a rollercoaster first week in management despite being held by Bristol City in his first Middlesbrough home match.
Andreas Weimann landed an early sucker-punch but Chuba Akpom, with his third goal in three under the Manchester United legend, ensured a share of the spoils.
Carrick, 41, has four points from his first three games but heads to Blackpool on Tuesday full of confidence after watching his side dominate here.
He said: “We did enough performance wise to win the game but I can’t really ask much more of the lads, they’ve done ever so well and limited them to not a lot.
“The performance was very good – but points are what make the difference and I’m not swerving that by any stretch.
“But at this stage, third game in, we can definitely look forward and be positive with what we’ve done so far.
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“We have two away games coming up before the break and we go into them looking forward to both.”
It was almost an explosive start at his new home but Hayden Hackney blasted over and Riley McGree was denied by goalkeeper Max O’Leary.
The Riverside faithful were roaring – but it was the Robins that were rocking in the tenth minute with their first attack.
Weimann received the ball down the left and burst infield past Isaiah Jones before meeting a one-two with Tommy Conway at the back to break the deadlock.
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The hosts were winded, and City could have been celebrating a second if Nahki Wells had not headed Conway’s cross the wrong side of the woodwork.
Boro regrouped but both McGree and Marcus Forss were thwarted by O’Leary.
McGree once again found the City goalie unbeatable before the post came to the Irish stopper’s rescue from a Forss strike.
But Boro started the second period with a bang as Akpom stabbed home McGree’s cross from close-range.
O’Leary’s leg prevented Akpom a second and McGree’s rocket almost did seal a win in additional time – but once again the outstanding O’Leary produced a great stop.
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City boss Nigel Pearson said: “Our players gave us an awful lot of effort and we got a fighting point.
“I think we defended our box with a lot of resilience. They had a number of free-kicks and set plays towards the end which we had to show a lot of commitment in terms of dealing with and we came through that with credit.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
