HIS side might have been sluggish in the first half against QPR, but Michael Carrick was not at all tempted to raise his voice in the dressing room at the interval.

Instead, the boss had a bit of a laugh with his players. And it worked a treat.

Boro blasted QPR away in the second half, with Chuba Akpom adding two more goals to take his tally for the season to 19 and Riley McGree securing the points after Ilias Chair had halved the deficit.

"It was a little bit sticky in the first half, but I had a laugh and a smile with the boys at half-time because I understand what that feels like," said Carrick.

"You need that second wind sometimes and so it was calm and encouragement at half-time and just telling the boys to keep going, keep believing and keep playing out from Zack and through the pitch.

"We had to keep believing in the process and I told them they would get their rewards. As the second half grew I thought that we did that really well and everyone played their part."

Asked whether he was at all tempted to take a different approach to his half-time teamtalk, Carrick said: “There was no temptation [to have a go at half-time] because I know how that feels and it was a smile and a laugh and a calmness at half-time.

"I told them, just keep playing. If you start kicking it long because you give it away a few times then you become a totally different team and that’s not what’s got us here. We’ve got to do what we’re best at, which is playing through the pitch from Zack, playing short passes when we need to and a bit longer into the front men if we have to.

"Ultimately we have to be patient and trust ourselves. That’s what the boys have been doing and I thought the longer the game wore on the boys were terrific."

After Sheffield United's defeat at Millwall in the early kick-off, Boro's win means the gap to automatic promotion places is now four points.