MICHAEL Carrick has stressed the importance of patience with new signing Micah Hamilton - but is excited about what the forward will offer his Middlesbrough side.

Just 24 hours after completing his permanent switch from Manchester City, Hamilton was an unused substitute as Boro got their season off to a winning start against Swansea City at the Riverside on Saturday.

Carrick, his fellow coaches and Boro's recruitment team are thrilled with the capture of the highly-rated 20-year-old, who featured for Pep Guardiola's City in the Champions League last season.

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But the head coach won't expect too much too soon from Hamilton.

He said: “We’re absolutely delighted to get Micah in. We’ll certainly be patient with him because he’s still young and this is his first move.

"He’s been at Man City since he was six, so it’s a big change for him and we understand that.

"We’ll give him as much help as he needs to settle in. But we’re very excited in terms of what he can be, both soon and also over the course of the season and beyond.

"We’re really delighted to get him. He’s a terrific lad with a really nice family. He’s down to earth and obviously talented. We’ll look after him and get the best out of him."

Carrick must now decide whether Hamilton will feature at Leeds United on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup first round tie.

He said: “We’ll have to see. He’s literally only trained the once with us. He went away with City this summer to the USA and I know what their tours are like. There’s a lot of travelling and it’s difficult to train as much.

"We’ll manage him carefully to get him up to speed and we’ll make a call on Leeds closer to the time.”