MICHAEL Carrick hailed the "unbelievable" spirit of his players after they dug deep and found a way to win at Huddersfield and said the joyous celebrations that followed Jonny Howson's dramatic late strike showed how much the victory meant to Middlesbrough.

Josh Coburn's second half opener was cancelled out by Michel Helik and Boro looked set to have to settle for a point after Howson had a late penalty superbly saved by Huddersfield keeper Jacob Chapman. But from the resulting corner, the captain fired home the winner and charged over to the Boro technical area where all of the players and staff celebrated together.

"I think some goals feel a bit bigger than others and that definitely felt a big one tonight," said delighted Carrick.

“It was a hell of a save to be fair from the goalkeeper. There are good penalties and bad penalties and on this one you’ve got to say it was a brilliant save.

"I’ve not seen it back, but live it looked brilliant. But you could see what it meant when Jonny scores after - what it meant to Jonny, what it meant to all the players and all the coaches. The celebrations were probably ramped up because of the missed penalty and the way the game was going. Sometimes it’s quite nice to win when you’ve had to dig in and fight. Jonny showed that big moment and I’m delighted for him.

"The spirit is unbelievable within the group, the staff, the backroom staff. Again, for the fans to have so many behind that goal and to see the boys struggling and grinding it out, it can get that connection and you get caught up in it."

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After the dramatic late win that lifted Boro up to ninth, Carrick said: “I’m a bit worn out to be honest, so I don’t know how the players must feel. It was a bit of a crazy game really. There was all sorts happening.

"The weather played a part, Huddersfield played a massive part in making it difficult for us, so credit to them for that. It was one of them games where it just didn’t really click and didn’t come easy for us.

"It had to be a bit of a slog and bit of a grind. It was chaotic at times with chances at both ends - big chances. I said at half-time, it was just going to be one of those games and we had to make sure we won the battle of the chaos really.

"Sometimes that’s what you’ve got to do - find a way of winning. To be fair to the boys, they all chipped in and found a way. I’m delighted with the result. But to go from the Rotherham game the other day - crazy in a different way - and then coming into this one… sometimes football is baffling. We played a hell of a lot better the other day than we did the other night, but we found a way tonight. It was a bit of a slog, but we’ll take it, for sure."

While Carrick was keen for the praise to be aimed in the direction of the players, the Boro head coach more than played his part. Huddersfield looked the more likely winners after their second half equaliser but Carrick turned to his bench and changed to a back three and his alteration worked a treat as Boro regained control.

Carrick said: “It was a bit to do with personnel. We lost Anf and credit to them, they stretched us a little bit with Izzy at full-back. He’s played well there to be fair, but it was just the way the game was going. It was a bit of a struggle and there were big spaces. "You could see the lads were feeling it a bit and in the end the change probably helped us. Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you don’t, but this time it helped to settle us and close the spaces they were getting into."