MICHAEL CARRICK hailed a “special night” as his Middlesbrough side beat Chelsea – but accepts it will be a “whole new challenge” when they try to make it to Wembley at Stamford Bridge.

On a memorable evening at the Riverside, Hayden Hackney’s first-half goal secured a 1-0 win over Chelsea in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final.

Hackney converted Isaiah Jones’ low cross in the 37th minute, with Boro successfully repelling a series of opposition attacks to secure a first-leg success.

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Carrick said: “It’s a very special night. There are two sides to it really, and everything we had to go through.

“There is the game tonight. We had to suffer a little bit to get the win. Then, there is the other game to think about too.

“I have to credit the players - it’s not easy at all to beat a team like that with that quality. To suffer the injuries early on as well, when we didn’t have enough to start with, (made it more difficult). So, tonight was a really special night.

“The atmosphere, Hayden scoring - it was such a good night for us. I think we’ve got to take that as a one off and enjoy it.

“The second leg is a whole new ball game and we know the challenge we face. Have we got an advantage, have we not? You could argue maybe not at this stage. We know it will be tough down there. There is a lot to take in.”

Boro head to Stamford Bridge in a fortnight’s time knowing a draw will be sufficient to secure a first League Cup final appearance since Gareth Southgate skippered the Teessiders to victory in the Millennium Stadium in 2004.

Chelsea had their chances this evening, with Cole Palmer spurning two excellent opportunities in the first half, and Mauricio Pochettino’s side will fancy their chances of overturning their deficit in a fortnight’s time.

Boro will back themselves to cause problems of their own in the second leg though, with all the pressure set to be piled on a Chelsea side who continue to struggle to live up to their collective price tag.

Carrick said: “It will be a whole new ball game. It’s a whole new challenge. We knew there was two games and so this is just half-time. We had to have that in mind tonight and manage the game.

“We know going down what we’re walking into. But what a great place to be going on the back of a first leg like tonight. Let’s try our best and see where it takes us.”