MICHAEL Carrick smiled as he insisted he hadn't given much thought to Middlesbrough's rotten recent opening day record.

That may well be the case, but there's no doubt Carrick will have given plenty of thought to the importance of avoiding a start like last season.

Worry not. For Boro already now have more points on the board than they did after seven games last term.

And while there's an obvious need to pace the effort in a gruelling Championship campaign, poor starts cost Boro a play-off place last season and automatic promotion 12 months earlier. They don't want to be playing catch up again.

There's no getting away from the fact Swansea were poor on Saturday but so were Millwall, QPR and Sheffield Wednesday in the early weeks last season and Boro failed to beat any of those sides. The only failure on Saturday was the inability to turn dominance into more goals - 1-0 flattered the visitors.

But one goal will be enough if the defence continues in such organised and brave fashion. Luke Ayling, Rav van den Berg and Matt Clarke all excelled, picking up where they left off last season.

As did Emmanuel Latte Lath, who of course scored Boro's goal, an emphatic penalty buried just a week after he'd missed one in the final friendly of the summer. The first of how many goals this season? He was a bundle of energy from the off and unfortunate to only score the once.

The highlight of the afternoon wasn't Latte Lath's first half penalty, Seny Dieng's brilliant defence splitting kicked clearance that set Isaiah Jones away early on or the goal-saving blocks from Ayling or van den Berg in the final seconds, but special guest Tony Mowbray looking and sounding so well when he spoke on the pitch at half-time.

After his health battles, Mogga, who was visibly touched by the reception from the Boro fans, told of how the last six months have been the "toughest of his life", saying: "I'm just a lad from Redcar who gave his best in red and white. To have so many people care so much about my life is humbling and means the world to me."

Mowbray had very recently been manager of his hometown club the last time Boro had won on the opening day. That was back in 2014 and the start of a promotion push under Aitor Karanka.

That's of course the aim in the coming months and the evidence - the way Boro finished last term, their eye-catching and impressive summer business and their balanced squad - points towards a repeat.

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The picture looks a lot prettier than it did 12 months ago - not that Carrick is getting carried away.

"It's important (to be up near the top) but it's not the best measure at this stage and we don't want to be getting anxious and tight and thinking we have to win every game," he said.

"We spoke about it before the game and said if we keep doing the right thing and are consistent, the story will tell itself.

"We don't want to be too anxious thinking we need to do this or that. Certainly the drive is there and the motivation. You saw today the boys have something about them. They want to hold on to that momentum and build on that.

"If you go back to the start of last season, the performances were largely better than when we went on the run at the end of the season. There was a lot of good things and I said it to you every week, sometimes I got funny looks back, but I was adamant we were doing a lot of good things.

"Of course points wise that's what it's all about. It's not always the points that tell the full story but it's certainly nice to have them."

It's about the future now for Carrick and Boro, not the past, and, excitingly, the head coach says "there's still loads to come".