DURING what Michael Carrick admitted has been a "difficult period" for Paddy McNair, the Northern Ireland international has gone above and beyond to ensure he was ready to take his Middlesbrough opportunity when it presented itself.

Due to the excellence of Dael Fry and Darragh Lenihan, McNair had to watch on from the bench as Boro transformed their season under Carrick, the former Manchester United man not playing getting a minute of action until he was brought on for the final seconds of the win at Birmingham City.

In the week that followed, Lenihan suffered a foot injury which meant a start for McNair against Brighton in the FA Cup, an incredibly tough test for a player lacking match minutes against a top class Premier League outfit.

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With Boro still waiting to discover the severity of Lenihan's problem, McNair got another chance against Millwall on Saturday, his first Championship start under Carrick - and he took it. Alongside Fry at the heart of the Boro defence, the 27-year-old was superb. Not that head coach Carrick was at all surprised.

He has been extremely impressed by McNair's attitude during his spell on the bench, telling of how the defender would ask for extra work in training to stay as sharp as possible.

Carrick said: “Credit to Paddy. He hasn’t played anywhere near as much as he would want to.

"It’s easy then, because you’re out of the team, to let your training standards slip and then all of a sudden you get an opportunity and you’re not ready for it. It’s then easy to blame other people for that.

"But Paddy has done really well and everything we could have expected of him through that difficult period. Even when he hasn’t got on in games he’s done extra work and sometimes asked for extra work after games so he can stay up to speed and that’s the rewards you get.

"He’s stepped in and done fantastic today, so I’m really pleased for him."

It's not yet clear how long Lenihan will be sidelined.

Carrick said: “We don’t have an update on that one right now. We’re still investigating that and still right on the edge between whether it’s going to be short-term or a little bit longer.

"We’re keeping our fingers crossed, but at this stage, we still haven’t got to the bottom of it."