IT wasn't, said Michael Carrick, "judgement day" for Alex Gilbert.

But it was the opportunity the forward has been waiting for - and he grasped it.

It's been a testing campaign for the 22-year-old, who, despite Boro's injury crisis, has found himself on the fringes and had only played 76 Championship minutes this season prior to Saturday's trip to Cardiff City.

But after an eye-catching cameo against Leeds on Monday, Gilbert earned the start at Cardiff. It was his first in the Championship for Boro, but it certainly won't be his last.

Indeed, he almost certainly did enough to keep his place in the side for the final day game against Cardiff City.

The former Brentford youngster was positive throughout and fully deserved his second half goal, a clinical strike to put Boro 4-0 up.

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This season hasn't gone to plan for Gilbert, who will have surely been hoping for more football when he joined last summer, but he hasn't let his head drop and has continued to apply himself well at Rockliffe - earning his place in the XI on Saturday.

“There were mixed reasons behind the decision," said Carrick of his decision to hand Gilbert a start.

"It’s not judgement day, by any stretch. He deserved an opportunity. He’s trained so well and applied himself so well. He’s definitely improved as the season has gone on, and grown and matured too.

"He’s had good impact when he’s come on recently, so it felt like the next step for him and he took it really well, so we’re really pleased for him."

The next step is not necessarily establishing himself as a weekly starter next season but to play a much more prominent role. With Sam Greenwood's future uncertain and on the back of the exits of Morgan Rogers and Matt Crooks, attacking midfield is an area that will need summer attention. But Gilbert will want to have something to say about that.

Even in cup competitions Gilbert has found opportunities hard to come by this term. He played just 19 minutes of Boro's run to the Carabao Cup semi-finals and there was a seven-minute run-out against Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

Having spent the vast majority of the seasons on the sidelines, he was desperate to impress on Saturday - and Carrick wasn't at all surprised by the forward's impressive showing.'

He said: “As you’d expect [he wanted to impress]. The boys went about it in the right way in general today and showed good attitude and mentality towards the game. That’s what Alex can do.

"We know he’s got goals in him; he’s a terrific finisher. So it was not surprising to see him stick that away. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic finish.”