MICHAEL Carrick is up for the Championship's October Manager of the Month award after inspiring an impressive Middlesbrough revival on the back of a nightmare start to the season.

On the back of last season's promotion near-miss, Boro endured a rotten start to the current campaign, failing to win in their first seven league matches.

That run finally came to an end when Boro beat Southampton late in September which was followed by a 3-2 success at Watford.

Boro then kicked on with four more victories on the bounce against Cardiff, Sunderland, Birmingham and Norwich, with Carrick's side only conceding a single goal in those games. Although the winning stretch was ended by Stoke City late last month, Boro's improvement and form didn't go unrecognised and Carrick has now been named as one of four nominees for the Championship Manager of the Month gong.

"Carrick didn’t panic in spite of an abysmal run of results to begin Middlesbrough’s season," said a SkyBet spokesman.

"A revival which began in September was in full swing this month with 12 points earned from five games, including a stunning 4-0 derby win at Sunderland."

Carrick is up against Leicester boss Enzo Maresca, who'll be in the opposition dugout at the Riverside on Saturday, Southampton's Russell Martin and Ipswich head coach - and the Boro boss's close friend - Kieran McKenna.

Championship leaders Leicester enjoyed a perfect October as they amassed 18 points and 15 goals from their six games. Southampton recovered from a difficult September that followed a chaotic close to the transfer window with an impressive October, picking up 11 points from their five games. Ipswich, meanwhile, picked up maximum points from their four October fixtures as the Tractor Boys continue to impress in their first season back in the second tier.

READ MORE:

Boro are looking to get back to winning ways in the Championship as they sign off for the international break against Leicester this weekend. The Foxes head for Teesside on the back of a home loss to Leeds United last time out, just their second defeat of the season so far.

Tom Cannon - who was linked with a move to Boro in the summer - before joining Leicester for north of £7m could make his Foxes debut. He's been out of action with a back problem but boss Maresca expects the former Everton striker to at least make the bench at the Riverside.

He said last week: “(Cannon) is fit, but because he’s been a long time out, he needs to be slow. We’ll see if we can involve him (against Leeds). Otherwise for sure the next one (against Middlesbrough).”