MICHAEL Carrick admitted Middlesbrough's 5-0 hammering at the hands of Stoke was a "horrible" defeat and "harsh lesson" - but jumped to the defence of his youngsters.

Carrick named only three players over the age of 23 in his starting XI but Boro were the better side in the opening period at the Riverside, despite trailing 1-0 at half-time after Emre Tezgel's early opener.

Boro fell apart in a nightmare 12 minute period in which Stoke ran in four goals, but Carrick says he won't let that spell "affect his judgement" of the full display.

And he has told his youngsters, including the likes of Harley Hunt, making his full Boro debut, Sonny Finch and Law McCabe to focus on the positives of the performance.

He said: "Twelve minutes. Literally 12 minutes. Strange.

"Putting it into context there was a lot of good things in the game. First half we were pretty good to be honest.

"It was a harsh lesson in how brutal football can be if you don't take your chances and don't defend well enough and the game goes away from you.

"And after that 12 minutes it's a horrible result and a horrible game to end up going through. Largely there was a lot of good things but it just went away from us really quick."

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Josh Coburn, Micah Hamilton and Sonny Finch all had good chances for Boro before Stoke took complete control after the break.

Carrick said: "I don't think we can ignore a lot of the good work to create the chances and opportunities.

"We could have created even more. We won't ignore that. But it's a one off game. We give younger players a game. I was really proud of the young players and for the most part they coped ever so well. I won't let that 12 minute spell affect my judgement.

"It doesn't look nice, we're out of the cup but they will be a lot better for the experience. I'm not putting the goals on the young lads. We move on now. We have a game on Saturday and it will be a whole new ball game.

"The disappointment is part of learning. You almost learn most when you have a tough one. It will feel a tough one tonight but they have to remember what they did well in the game. I'll remember that. The scoreline is on me.

"We knew what we were going into and we thought the lads could get it. For long spells we were on top and deserved to score but that 12 minute spell shaped the whole game."