MICHAEL Carrick has urged caution with Josh Coburn amid some bold claims from his loan boss Joey Barton, as the Middlesbrough head coach confirmed the young striker will spend the full season at Bristol Rovers.

Coburn is impressing in League One, scoring five goals in 11 appearances for Rovers, his form leading Barton to last week claim the 20-year-old will go on to lead the line for England in the future and even comparing him with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Carrick is delighted to see Coburn doing so well out on loan but is wary of expecting too much too soon from any young player and is cautious with his approach.

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"You have to be careful not to get carried away with young players," said the Boro boss.

"I'm not speaking about Josh individually but with any young player you have to be very careful of expecting too much too early and getting carried away.

"We have young players here. We've had Hayden (Hackney) who's played a few games for us and done really well but who's to say what happens next? That's the challenge for all young players, to be in the right frame of mind at all times. All sorts of things come into play, so I'm not getting carried away by any stretch.

"I love to see young boys coming in and getting their chance and doing well but I'm quite calm about what's next."

Boro have the option to recall Coburn in January but Carrick confirmed the striker will be allowed to stay at Bristol Rovers for the full season, with the loan move playing out exactly as his parent club hoped.

"I think that's the best place for him to stay and enjoy his football that he has been doing all season and keep improving," said Carrick.

"Experience is huge as a younger player. It's great to see him getting a lot of experience. It will help in the long run. When something isn't broke don't try to fix it and certainly in the short-term for Josh it's the right place for him."

Carrick is yet to speak to Coburn personally since his Boro appointment but is closely monitoring the striker alongwith the other players who are out on loan.

Carrick said: "I haven't (spoken to him) no because I didn't want to get too involved personally. His head is in a good place and he's performing. He has a role and responsibility and he's doing really well, so I didn't want to interfere too much.

"At the same time he's our player and we obviously care about him and do want to look after him, so I'm well aware of that."

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Meanwhile, Carrick confirmed that Massimo Luongo will be leaving the club, with the midfielder having spent time on trial with Ipswich Town this week.

Luongo signed on a free-transfer in September, with his deal due to expire in January.

Carrick said:  “Mass was obviously on a short-term contract with us and we want to do what’s best for him really, to help him in his next step in his career. He’s training down at Ipswich and hopefully that works well for him. I’ve enjoyed working with Mass and he goes with our backing and support and hopefully it works well for him."