MICHAEL CARRICK was always confident his players would be able to cope with the switch to a five-man defence at Leicester City at the weekend, and will continue to assess his tactical options on a match-by-match basis for the remainder of the season.

While Carrick has lined up his side with a flat back four for the vast majority of his time as Boro head coach, he opted for a change in formation at the King Power Stadium, with Paddy McNair, Rav van den Berg and Matt Clarke playing as centre-halves, while Luke Ayling and Lukas Engel were stationed as wing-backs.

The switch was largely an attempt to negate Leicester’s threat from their wide-defensive positions, and it worked superbly as Boro claimed a deserved 2-1 win over the Championship leaders.

There is every chance Carrick will revert to a four-man backline when Plymouth Argyle visit the Riverside this weekend, but the Leicester win nevertheless highlighted Boro’s defensive flexibility and will make the head coach even more willing to mix-and-match his side’s defensive shape for the rest of the campaign.

“I think we’ve used it (five at the back) enough,” said Carrick, whose side currently sit seven points adrift of the play-off positions, but with a game in hand on six of the seven sides directly above them in the table. “We used it (at Leicester) because they put five across their backline.

“We kind of played the same with Jonny (Howson) in Paddy’s position at home against Leicester. It was very similar, just different personnel.

“Where Paddy is probably seen by most as a centre-back, Jonny is a midfielder, but it was very much the same job. I thought the boys took on very different jobs and dealt with the challenge unbelievably well. So, I was really pleased with how they took that on board.”

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The switch to a five-man backline necessitated subtle changes further up the field. Riley McGree and Lewis O’Brien played as narrow wide midfielders, with Dan Barlaser and Finn Azaz inside them in what was often a diamond-shaped midfield.

Sammy Silvera led the line in attack, despite having made the vast majority of his previous Boro appearances in a wide-attacking position, and came up with the Teessiders’ second goal towards the end of the first half.

Silvera was making just his ninth league start at the weekend, following his summer move from Australian side Central Coast Mariners, and while it has taken the 23-year-old a certain amount of time to find his feet, he now looks increasingly at home in the Championship.

That was underlined by Carrick’s willingness to start him as the central striker ahead of Sam Greenwood, who had filled the role in the matches against Sunderland, Bristol City and Preston, and Marcus Forss, who had scored in three successive matches against Millwall, Rotherham and Sunderland, in the continued absence of injured duo Emmanuel Latte Lath and Josh Coburn.

“You have to make big decisions, and some go right, some don’t go to plan,” said Carrick. “That’s just the way it is. I just had a feeling for that one. I thought the way we set up would suit him. Playing on that last line, his one-vs-one and his running in behind, I think he’s got a sense of a goal, Sammy.

“The other boys played the other night as well (at Preston), so there was a little bit of getting the right mix in terms of freshness. I have to say, credit to Marcus and Sam as well, because they took it so well and were fantastic around the place after the news. They then came on and gave their all for the team, so that kind of sums it up.

“I’m delighted for Sammy though. He’s had a period where he would have liked to have played more, then went away with Australia and would have liked to have played more. But he’s come back, worked hard and scored a massive goal.”