MICHAEL Carrick has explained his decision to leave Isaiah Jones out of the Middlesbrough squad against Millwall.

Jones was dropped to the bench for the wins at Blackburn and Birmingham as Carrick shifted Marcus Forss out to the right flank, but the young winger was left out of the squad completely for the 1-0 win at Millwall. Fulham loanee Rodrigo Muniz was also absent.

Carrick said:  "It was a decision. We have a good group and everyone is training to be in the team and squad. I have decisions to make every game, that's the position I'm in. That was it. No issues."

Jones enjoyed a stunning breakthrough campaign last term under Neil Warnock and Chris Wilder but has suffered a dip in form this season, as is often the case with young players.

Carrick said: "I think as any individual player, I had it in my career, you go through times when the game comes easy and have times when it's a bit tougher and you just have to work your way through that. We're here to help the players. We don't expect them to be superstars every match or Man of the Match every game. It's just about putting things in place to give you the best chance of performing.

"It's not just about Izzy, it's what we do to help all the players. We're there to put an arm around them if they need it. At times that isn't always the answer. There's a bit of reality at times, what we expect, the standards we want. That's the balance of being in the right position, choosing what to say and how to act. Things are going well at the moment, the squad is in a good place, everyone is in a good place. We just need to keep pushing. The boys are playing well but we can't be satisfied."

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Asked whether being left out of the squad will spark a positive reaction from Jones in training this coming week, Carrick said: “It’s not about Izzy. I just made one of those choices and players come in the team and come out the team.

"It’s not an individual thing. It’s just about, from my point of view, the position I’m in now and knowing him as a player, it’s about what it takes to play well and have a performance.

"You’ve got to put things in place and that’s part of our job to put on the right sessions to have the right standards, and that’s then up to each individual player to set their own standards to be able to perform and to be in the group.

"The whole squad has done that very well and so I’m not having a go when I say that. The boys have been terrific, but we need to keep it going."

Fresh reports emerged this week claiming Fulham plan to recall Muniz from his loan at the Riverside, but Carrick confirmed the Brazilian striker is still at the club, despite being left out of the squad against Millwall.

Matthew Hoppe was preferred on the bench after scoring a brace for the Under-21s against Sunderland at the start of the week, with Carrick in attendance.