MICHAEL CARRICK senses Chuba Akpom just wants to keep on going after hitting the form of his life that could see him join an exclusive club.

Only three previous players have hit 30 goals during a Championship season and the 27-year-old’s opening goal in the 4-0 win over Preston has taken him on to 24 league goals.

Akpom has eight matches to score another six that will see him join Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ivan Toney and Glenn Murray in becoming the only players to reached that milestone in Championship history.

Both Toney and Murray scored 30 for Brentford and Crystal Palace respectively and Akpom’s current form of 11 goals in his last ten matches suggests he could surpass both of those. Mitrovic’s 43-goal tally in Fulham’s promotion year is out of reach.

Carrick thinks Akpom has the desire to keep going after years of struggling to reach the potential many felt he had when he emerged as young professional at Arsenal.

“I don’t know why it’s clicked this season, is my honest answer,” said Carrick. “I’ve known Chuba for five months now and he’s desperate to learn and desperate to improve.

“The first thing he’ll say is credit to his team-mates as well, and they all work for each other. But he’s talented Chuba. He’s got a real presence and he’s playing with a real confidence and he can finish too.

”He’s been a real credit to himself. The beauty about it is, he’s not satisfied. He wants to keep pushing and wants to be better, improve.

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“He wants to score more goals, but he wants to become a better player all-round because it’s not always about the goals.

“I know that’s what gets the headlines. But it would be easy to get to 20 goals and say to himself, ‘brilliant, well done, that’s a brilliant season’. But he’s striving for more and wants more, and so he should.”

Akpom spent last season on loan at the club, PAOK Salonika, where he last played before moving to Middlesbrough. Before that he had numerous loan stints at Brentford, Coventry, Nottingham Forest, Hull, Brighton and St Truiden and struggled to hit a good run of scoring form.

Under Carrick, though, he just keeps scoring and is appreciated by the man who has given him the chance to flourish, having spent last summer seemingly on his way out of the Riverside when he was training with the Under-23s.

Carrick, who worked with some incredible strikers at Manchester United, said: “I didn’t ever score enough to know, but it was always a nice feeling when I did. There has to be that element of confidence, bordering on a nice arrogance in total belief in yourself. And of course, an enjoyment in scoring goals as well - craving that feeling.

“The whole team can’t do it because there are different dynamics within, but of course when you score goals you get a real buzz from it."

Match Analysis - Page 47