MICHAEL CARRICK claims summer signing Aidan Morris is a “natural fit” for the way in which Middlesbrough intend to play next season.

Morris was a £3m addition from MLS side Columbus Crew and has impressed during Boro’s pre-season programme.

The 22-year-old central midfielder has hit the ground running since crossing the Atlantic, and once again caught the eye as he ran the game during Wednesday’s friendly draw with Harrogate Town.

Morris faces a battle to claim a starting spot next season, with Jonny Howson, Hayden Hackney and Dan Barlaser all providing competition at the heart of midfield, but Carrick feels the American’s all-action style gives him every success of being a major success on Teesside.

“It’s why we bought him,” said the Boro boss. “We obviously like him a lot. We’ve watched him for a while, and we like his style and the way he plays the game. We feel that it suits us, and that the way we play suits him.

“We’ll be patient with him. It’s a change for him. It’s a change of country, a whole new way of life for him, and he’s still young for how much experience he’s got as well. We’ll help him settle in – we’re doing that now – and look after him.

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"But, for sure, we’re really happy with the way he’s settled in so far, and you can already see from the way he plays that he’s a natural fit.”

Boro complete their pre-season programme when they host Dutch club Heerenveen at the Riverside tomorrow afternoon.

Having played for more than three-quarters of Wednesday’s game, Morris is likely to be on the bench at the weekend, and the same is true of forward Josh Coburn, who led the line for most of the game against Harrogate.

Coburn suffered a series of frustrations last season, with a succession of injuries restricting him to just 11 Championship starts, but after coming through a full pre-season programme unscathed, Carrick expects the 21-year-old to play a much more prominent role in Boro’s plan next term.

“Josh missed a lot of last season,” he said. “He had a really good spell for us last season, but then picked up the injury and tried to battle through. He tried to get through for a little bit, but in the end, it just proved too much.

“It’s important we keep him fit now. It’s a big age for his development, so staying fit is important. We want to get him into a good rhythm of training and playing games.”