MICHAEL Carrick won't get carried away by the positivity surrounding Middlesbrough but admits there's a lot of "hope and confidence" in the camp after a strong start to the summer on and off the pitch.

Boro made it three summer wins on the bounce with a thrilling 5-3 win at Doncaster on Saturday, with Hayden Hackney, Finn Azaz, Riley McGree, Emmanuel Latte Lath and Sonny Finch getting the goals.

That followed victories over Gateshead and Bolton, with Boro looking in good shape ahead of the coming Championship season having made a strong start to the summer transfer window.

Boro remain interested in further strengthening their squad before the summer deadline but the bulk of their business has been done early, giving Carrick the chance to work closely with his squad on the training pitches.

He liked a lot of what he saw at Doncaster on Saturday and was pleased his side delivered some exciting attacking football for the the 2,000-plus fans who made the trip.

"It was very good actually, for large spells it was really good," he told BBC Tees.

"Some of the football we played was really good, we pressed well, we just gave them a bit too much in and around our box. There was a couple of goals we wouldn't normally give away but there was a lot to be pleased about.

"We've always tried to play in a certain way and have things to look for in a game. The boys have taken that on a lot. We certainly looked dangerous. Today we got the goals off the back of it. I'm really pleased and it gives us a lot of hope and confidence moving forward."

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Carrick was without Dael Fry and Darragh Lenihan at the Eco-Power Stadium. Fry is nursing a minor injury that also forced him out of the midweek Gateshead trip. Lenihan made a goalscoring return at Gateshead after 10 months out so Boro took the decision to rest the former Blackburn man at Doncaster. With Fry and Lenihan absent, Rav van den Berg and Matt Clarke played the full 90 minutes.

"We're managing them," said Carrick.

"Darragh, that was his first one back, so it was just managing that, then the same with Dael. Ninety minutes for the centre-halves was fine, we'll manage that moving forward."

Carrick says Boro still haven't got to the bottom of Alex Bangura's injury.

He said: "We'll have to wait and see on Alex. We're assessing it. I haven't really got any more news at the moment."