MICHAEL Carrick has revealed captain Jonny Howson is set for a "few weeks" on the sidelines with the hamstring injury that forced him off against Leeds this week.

But Riley McGree will be back in contention for next week's visit of Portsmouth after missing the 1-0 defeat at Derby.

Boro have midfield depth and Aidan Morris and Hayden Hackney started at Pride Park, with Dan Barlaser coming off the bench but losing Howson so early in the campaign is still a major setback for Carrick.

"Jonny, it's looking like it could be a few weeks for him," said Carrick.

"That's a bit of a blow for us, but we'll deal with it.

“We’ve got five really good midfielders, putting Law into that. They can all play together and play off each other. So from game to game it might change a little bit. But certainly through the season they’ll all play a big part.”

Burgzorg replaced McGree in the team at Derby with the Australian international missing after picking up a knock.

"He should be back next week, Riley," said Carrick.

"It's just a niggle and nothing major."

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Carrick was frustrated after Boro slumped to their first defeat of the season at Derby, with Isaiah Jones' first half mistake proving costly. Kayden Jackson scored the only goal of the game.

Boro pushed for an equaliser and had 20 shots compared to Derby's three, but couldn't force their way through the home defence.

Carrick said: “I think we just give ourselves too much to do after a poor start really.

"We weren’t totally at it from the off really, with a couple of bits of sloppy play, and then we give away the goal.

"It then becomes a game where it’s not easy to pull it back. We did try. I thought we played some good football at times and created some good chances, but the longer the game goes, they’ve got a lot to hold onto and it becomes a little frustrating.

"Obviously we’re disappointed with the result. That’s no surprise with how the game panned out. We certainly wanted more from this game, but we just couldn’t do enough today to claw it back. We gave ourselves too much to do."

Carrick refused to point the finger of blame at Jones despite his error, saying:  “It is what it is. It’s happened. There’s not much more to say than that really.

“It wasn’t just the goal. I thought there was a couple of moments before that where we just looked a little bit off it, and that’s the price you pay. We definitely have to get better at that and also be a little bit more ruthless. But certainly, we have to be a bit smarter with how we start games in this kind of situation. We’ll get there.

“I can't fault the effort of the players. They gave everything and are as frustrated as anybody in there right now.

"It’s perspective. I said after the first game and Leeds, it’s just one week into the season so we can’t be too extreme in how we’re feeling, but certainly we need to learn.

"We’ve been here in this situation once or twice and we have to be able to adapt really."