MICHAEL CARRICK admits George McCormick’s first-team break at Middlesbrough has come “quite quickly”, but the Boro boss has been impressed with the way in which the youngster has stepped up in pre-season.

An injury to Alex Bangura during the training trip to Portugal means Lukas Engel is currently the only senior left-back in Boro’s senior squad.

As a result, 19-year-old McCormick has been promoted to the first-team group and has featured in all three of the Teessiders’ domestic pre-season matches against Bolton, Gateshead and Doncaster.

The teenager, who has been part of Boro’s academy set-up since the age of nine, set up a goal for Sonny Finch as Boro beat Doncaster 5-3 on Saturday, with Carrick delighted with the way in which McCormick has seized the unexpected opportunity that has presented itself in the last few weeks.

“George has taken his opportunity,” said Carrick, who also saw Hayden Hackney, Finn Azaz, Riley McGree and Emmanuel Latte Lath find the net at Doncaster’s Eco-Power Stadium. “He’s done fantastically well.

“It’s come quite quickly for him, really, so fair play to him. He’s improved every time he’s played, and in training he’s improving all the time.

“It was a big moment for him (at Doncaster), setting up the goal for Finchy, and it was great to see the two younger lads connecting and scoring a goal. I’m really pleased for George, he’s doing a lot of good things at the moment.”

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Finch has scored in the wins over Bolton and Doncaster, and now looks likely to remain as part of Carrick’s first-team squad on Teesside for at least the first half of the season.

With Marcus Forss set to miss the start of the campaign through injury, 18-year-old Finch is currently the leading competitor to Isaiah Jones for the wide-attacking role on the right-hand side as he looks to make up for lost time following an injury-hit campaign last season.

“Sonny’s had a few ups and downs, and at the time, that’s tough,” said Carrick, whose side head to Harrogate Town on Wednesday before hosting Dutch club Heerenveen in their final pre-season game next weekend. “He wants to be fit and he wants to play, but I think, over time, it will have been a good experience for him to learn from.

“He’s come back really well, and now it’s just about trying to keep that level and training at a certain level. Again, he’s doing a lot of good things. Goals obviously help that, but I think his all-round game and all-round ability is improving all the time.”

Darragh Lenihan is likely to be involved in Wednesday’s game with Harrogate, having been left out of the squad at Doncaster in order to limit his workload after he returned from a ten-month absence to score the winner at Gateshead. Dael Fry, another weekend absentee, could also feature against Harrogate, with his ongoing injury issue not believed to be serious.

“We’re managing them,” said Carrick, who remains uncertain about the seriousness of Bangura’s injury. “With Darragh, that (against Gateshead) was his first one back, so it was just about managing that. Then it was the same with Dael. Ninety minutes for the centre-halves (against Doncaster) was fine, we'll manage that moving forward.”