The Tigers missed the chance to close the gap on the top six against Boro
Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick remains confident that his team can still finish sixth in the Championship, despite Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw at Hull City. With only four games remaining, they must close a six-point gap.
As a result, his comments should give the Tigers hope that they can stay in the race despite losing their sixth consecutive home game in an intriguing affair at the MKM Stadium.
Boro took the lead in the fourth minute through in-form striker Emmanuel Latte Lath, but City rallied to lead 2-1 at halftime thanks to Jaden Philogene and Jean Michael Seri, before Finn Azaz finished off a fantastic counter-attack in the second half to win a point.
Both teams are tied on 62 points, six behind Norwich, who were beaten to a 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night despite being two up at halftime. Crucially, Liam Rosenior’s team have a game in hand against play-off contenders Coventry later this month.
When asked if Boro, with only four games remaining, were still in the race, Carrick’s response was short and direct, leaving reporters with no mistake about his opinions.
You’re kidding, right? Of course we are. One hundred percent. We need to win our games; Norwich’s position hasn’t improved since last night (Tuesday). They took a point, and we took a point. There are games to play, and anything is possible in this league.
“We aren’t given up on anything yet. It doesn’t matter who we play; we simply have to embrace it. When you play football to reach a goal, there is no pressure; it is what we live for. We can’t see this as a negative.
“Of course, we understand that we’re playing against teams that are competing for something a little higher than us, but we also have our own goals to strive for, look forward to, and be optimistic about. After the type of season we’ve had, being in it at this point is exciting.
“It was a good football game.” I’m upset, or rather frustrated, that we didn’t win in the end. Maybe that’s greedy, but we came here to win, and we gave it our all. I’m a little dissatisfied, but not with the players.
“They were excellent almost the entire time. We probably didn’t shift into high gear after going up 1-0. They had to make a few changes, which helped them get a spell in the first half and take the lead. We got back into it in the second half, though, after making a few changes at halftime.
“We came back pretty well and played a wonderful second half. We felt like we could have won. I believe it is the time of year, and both sides are prone to attacking. There was a lot of attacking talent and positive guys on the pitch as well. It was a good game of football in which both teams challenged one other’s abilities. I have a feeling we could have snatched one.”
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