Millwall 1-3 Middlesbrough: Engel, Jones and Forss on target

Add to the above the efforts of Tuesday night against Chelsea and the fact fast improving Millwall were five unbeaten coming into this.

All of which makes Boro’s come from behind victory all the more impressive.

Having got themselves in front through Joe Bryan, Millwall had the opportunities to put the game out of sight, but Boro hung on in there and levelled late in the first half when Lukas Engel tapped in his first goal for the club.

At that stage, you suspect Carrick and his players would have happily accepted the point but it got better for Boro, with Isaiah Jones pouncing on a mistake from Millwall goalscorer Bryan to put them in front before Marcus Forss announced his return with a superb stoppage time strike after being introduced from the bench.

It was a win that came with a slice of good fortune but it was also a success that owed to the spirit of those in red, who could easily have gone under after the early setback. Boro found a way, just as they did at Huddersfield.

And Carrick continues to find ways to cope with setbacks. After losing Emmanuel Latte Lath to injury against Chelsea, Josh Coburn was also missing at Millwall, which meant Morgan Rogers leading the line. Rogers was one of four changes, with Sam Greenwood also returning and Finn Azaz and Luke Ayling coming in for their debuts.

Whether it was the late arrival because of local traffic that delayed kick-off by 15 minutes or a hangover from the midweek Chelsea win, Boro were sluggish in the early stages and struggled to cope with Millwall’s intensity, who won a corner inside 60 seconds – which set the tone for their purposeful opening.

The frustration for Boro was the fact it appeared as though they were just starting to get a grip of the game when Joe Bryan slotted home the opening goal, but the warning signs were there from the off.

Millwall looked threatening down the right flank from minute one and it was there where the opener was created. Dael Fry got his head on a cross but could only direct it into the path of Bryan, who found the far corner.

It could have got worse quickly for Boro. Glover raced off his line to deny Duncan Watmore before Morgan Rogers lost sight of Jake Cooper from the resulting corner and the home defender volleyed off the bar from close range when he really should have scored.

With that, Boro started to show a bit of attacking intent themselves. Debutant Ayling did well to set Jones away on the right. He picked out Azaz, who smartly disguised his reverse pass to Rogers, only for Matija Sarkic to save well. Moments later it opened up again for Rogers inside the box but his touch let him down.

Millwall wanted to play at high intensity but Boro got their reward when they slowed things down. Glover and the defenders passed it between themselves and waited for the right moment, the keeper eventually breaking the lines with a pass into Greenwood, who exploited the space between the home midfield and defence. The Leeds loanee charged into the opposition box, played it to Jones, got it back then put it on a plate for Engel to tap in.

Home boss Joe Edwards will no doubt have thought his side should have been out of sight at the break, never mint not even ahead.

The Boro equaliser didn’t knock Millwall out of their stride. It was the home side who were the brighter and bolder after the break. Watmore turned the struggling van den Berg with ease, setting himself up for a volley that was straight at Glover.

But with the home side pushing forward, they were always likely to leave themselves exposed at the back, and so it proved. A searching Azaz ball should have been cut out by Bryan but the Millwall goalscorer made a mess of it and gifted an opportunity to Jones, who kept his cool and made no mistake.

Boro will have expected a late push for Millwall but the home side’s race was run. They had the odd moment but the visitors impressively saw it out - and Forss came off the bench to strike a superb stoppage time third.