MICHAEL CARRICK praised Middlesbrough’s ability to deliver three points despite heading into something of the unknown against Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham City.

Rooney had described beforehand about his desire to have the Blues play more on the front foot in the attacking third and dictate play.

But having only had a week's training to prepare with the team after taking over, much of Birmingham’s play continued to resemble his predecessor John Eustace’s approach of hitting teams on the break.

Middlesbrough, playing more in line with what Rooney wants from his teams, created numerous chances but looked like coming up short until Morgan Rogers’ 89th-minute winner sealed a fifth straight Championship success.

“I couldn’t fault the boys,” said Carrick. “It is tough when you go into a game like this because we didn’t really know what we were going into, there wasn’t much we had to go on.

“We did do enough to win the game because we had enough chances - and those chances, we could have scored from.

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“You never know if a goal is going to come along, but you have to keep doing the right things and freshen up to try to create a spark. In the end the boys found a way to score.”

Middlesbrough are suddenly only two points from a play-off spot, raising hopes of a top-six finish for a second season in a row under Carrick.

Saturday's victory over his former Manchester United team-mate, Rooney, was achieved late, after Carrick had brought on Emmanuel Latte Lath, Jonny Howson, Rogers and Marcus Forss.

And having seen Rogers, signed from Manchester City in the summer for an undisclosed fee, score his first league goal for Middlesbrough, he is convinced there is more to come.

Carrick said: “It was a big goal for all of us, not just Morgan. It was a big goal to win a game.

“I’m really pleased for Morgan because he came on to make an impact and did. Goals like that can give you a massive boost and I am sure he will have an impact for the rest of the season.

“But I’m really pleased about the impact from the boys off the bench again, they have all come on and made an impact in different ways. Seny Dieng (goalkeeper) getting a clean sheet obviously makes it a bit easier too by just needing to score one.”

Former Derby and DC United boss Rooney was frustrated to lose his first game as Birmingham manager, although he was ready for it because of the changes he is trying to implement.

He said: “You never enjoy when you lose, but it is great to be back in English football, great to be at Birmingham, just you never enjoy losing. Thankfully we have another game Wednesday.

“I have been quite calm (about the first game). You always have a feeling before the game whether you are playing or a manager, which is normal, but I am quite calm because I know what I want. I know where we need to get to.

“I knew this was a possibility today, but it will take time to get where we want to go. We might have to go through days like this and it is important we stay calm to ensure we hit the goals we really want to.”