YOU wonder what was going through the mind of Lukas Engel when he was withdrawn at half-time at Sheffield Wednesday.

He was just five games into his Boro career but a first half horror show at Hillsborough had followed an extremely unconvincing start to life at the Riverside.

After being replaced at half-time, he was left out against Southampton and then Watford and at that stage it was fair to question when his next opportunity would come.

But the misfortune of a teammate presented Engel with a chance. Lewis O'Brien - filling in at left-back after Alex Bangura had suffered an injury - broke his leg at Vicarage Road, meaning Michael Carrick again turned to the Danish defender for the visit of Cardiff City.

Given what had gone before, it was a pivotal afternoon. How would things have turned out had Engel endured another rough outing? We'll never know, for the 25-year-old put in a rock solid showing and set up the goal for Isaiah Jones that set Boro on their way to victory.

Engel hasn't looked back. Other than the 4-0 home win over Preston, which he missed through injury, he's featured in every single league game since.

So what was said after that Sheffield Wednesday game? How did Carrick handle what was clearly a delicate situation?

"I don't think I sat him down, it was more a case of don't worry about it," explained the head coach.

"I told him 'you're a good player, you're here for a reason, one week doesn't make a player'.

"I've sat here and said that enough times. One week or one month doesn't make a player. We've tried to see past that. Sometimes it can be really good and a player excels for a month, sometimes a player has a bit of a tough time.

"It's easy to judge too quickly. Credit to Lukas, he's done fabulous and you can see him growing all the time.

"He got his goal last week, he's an important part of the group."

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Replacing Ryan Giles was the ultimate challenge for any left-back but Engel is now showing on the pitch why Boro were so keen to bring him to the club in the summer. And the manner in which he's recovered from that early struggle is huge credit to his character.

Carrick said: "Sometimes setbacks are a good thing and it teaches you a lot about yourself. It shows you how you deal with it, it shows people around you how you deal with it.

"It's never nice to go through but sometimes they're the best learning lesson.

"There's a human element to football. The boys aren't going to be at their best and be the most confident and self-believing every single game. It's important that we all understand that and are patient at times.

"Yeah, we'll strive for performances and results but the boys are human, they do have ups and downs and certain situations affect them so we have to support them and get the best out of them as much as we can."

As well as having support from the coaches, Boro's players have the backing of their teammates.

"I've said it so many times about the spirit in the group and looking after each other," said Carrick.

"It's easy when you're winning games, everything looks after itself. The lads look after each other, they have each other's back. It's important everyone feels that."