MICHAEL Carrick was pleased by the welcome return of three key Middlesbrough men at Rotherham - with Riley McGree providing some Boro "spark" to outline his importance.

Carrick has had a string of injury issues to contend with, with Jonny Howson and Ryan Giles now joining Dael Fry, Aaron Ramsey and Marcus Forss in the treatment room.

But Boro were boosted by McGree, Paddy McNair and Tommy Smith returning to action in the defeat at the New York Stadium.

McGree and McNair both started, the latter a late addition to the XI after Howson got injured in the warm-up, while Tommy Smith was introduced at the start of the second half after Carrick was forced into an alteration following Anfernee Dijksteel's red card.

Thankfully for Carrick, all three returning players came through unscathed.

"It's one of them spells where we lost a few players, got them back, then lost a few as well," said the head coach.

"The boys that came back in were fine, came through OK, which was a positive, but yeah, of course we want as many players to choose from as we can."

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The performance of McGree particularly pleased Carrick. He showed no signs of rustiness despite his spell on the sidelines and came very close to giving Boro an early lead when his chipped shot was cleared off the line by home captain Richard Wood.

McGree has been a key player for Boro since Carrick's arrival and will play a major role in the play-off campaign.

Carrick said: "He looked really bright. He's a clever footballer and plays in them pockets really well.

"He had a good chance, did well to get in early in the game. If that had gone in it would have changed the course of the game.

"It was good to have him back, he gives us something different, he had a nice spark about him."