MICHAEL Carrick will continue to monitor his Middlesbrough squad ahead of Saturday's trip to Sunderland, with the head coach forced into a number of changes to his side for Tuesday's win over Cardiff City.

Second half goals from Isaiah Jones and Emmanuel Latte Lath made it three wins on the bounce for Boro, who continue to climb the Championship table after their tough start to the season.

But Boro were without some key players for the visit of the Bluebirds, with Rav van den Berg and Jonny Howson missing from the squad and Darragh Lenihan only deemed fit enough for a place on the bench having suffered with illness. Matt Crooks was also rested having nursed some niggles in recent weeks.

Carrick also confirmed that Lewis O'Brien "won't be ready to return anytime soon" after he suffered an ankle injury in Saturday's win at Watford. 

Explaining the absentees against Cardiff, Carrick said: "Rav was missing, he's been carrying a hamstring neuro problem for a few games now so we'll have to wait and see how he is. Jonny has been ill, Darragh has been ill.

"Crooksy has had a few niggles and put a lot into the last couple of weeks, so it's about managing the squad. Sam (Greenwood) has done ever so well, looked sharp so I was really keen to get Sam onto the pitch and for him to play.

"It's about managing the squad, we're going to need everyone, whether it's Saturday, whenever it is, the squad is important so there's a balance to find in keeping the lads fresh and I thought we got that about right tonight."

Boro are still waiting for a definitive verdict on O'Brien's injury and how long he'll be out of action.

Carrick said: "He won't be back anytime soon. It will be a good few weeks, if not longer. He has specialists and surgeons to see, so we'll keep you updated."

There was some positive news on the fitness front for Boro, with Alex Bangura and Anfernee Dijksteel returning to the bench on Tuesday night.

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Despite missing some key players, Boro extended their unbeaten run to five games in all competitions thanks to their win over Cardiff, who headed for the Riverside on a four-game winning streak.

Carrick said: “I’m pleased. There were a lot of good things in the game. We had to make a few changes for different reasons and I thought the boys did well, grew into the game and improved as it went on. It’s a good result. We managed it really well second half, with the boys coming off the bench and making an impact. So there was a lot of good things."

Boro had to be patient. Chances were hard to come by in the first half but the home side stuck at it and broke the deadlock 11 minutes after the restart when the recalled Lukas Engel teed up Isaiah Jones before substitute Emmanuel Latte Lath wrapped up the win late on.

Carrick said: "The message at half-time was stay calm and keep trying. We could sense the frustration around the stadium in the first half, which doesn’t really help the players. But I thought they stuck to it, which is pleasing.

"They believed in what they were doing and I thought the last 10 minutes of the first half we finished it very well. Teams are going to come and make it difficult for us at times, so we can’t always expect it to be free-flowing all the time.

"They’re a good team who were on a good run, so we knew it was going to be a tough game. Lukas (Engel) was coming back into the side after some time out. Sam was the same, coming in for his first start. Tommy (Smith) came back into the team after a stop-start few weeks.

"So in that respect, it was understandable that it didn’t quite click. But as the game wore on, the boys grew into it. The boys were calm enough and I thought second half we were really good and deserved to get the win.”