MICHAEL CARRICK has lauded Middlesbrough owner Steve Gibson's "ambition" after he resisted the temptation to cash in on Emmanuel Latte Lath.

The Boro manager spoke out in the wake of a comfortable 2-0 win at Cardiff City whose build-up was nothing short of extraordinary.

Gibson found himself at the centre of frenetic transfer window drama on Friday night as he rejected Ipswich’s 11th hour Latte Lath bid.

The Ivorian ended up travelling to Cardiff by car after being initially being left on Teesside when the squad flew to South Wales.

And Carrick was quick to turn the spotlight on Gibson’s role in snubbing the £20m bid from the Premier League club.

“It can’t have been an easy decision to make,” Carrick told The Northern Echo.

“We all want success and that applies to Steve more than anyone for the amount he’s put into the club.

“It's easy for people outside the club to say, ‘Just knock it back’ and move on but when you’re running a football club, it takes a lot to reject it.

“It shows what Steve thinks and the kind of ambition that is spurring him on to back me and support me along with (head of football) Kieran Scott and (chief executive) Neil Bausor.”

Carrick continued: “There aren’t a lot of owners that would act like Steve has and we’ve seen that’s the case elsewhere in the EFL.

“So credit should go to Steve for saying ‘no’ because the buck for that sort of thing stops with him.

“But I have to stress that for the club owner to make that decision is something I would never take for granted.”

Latte Lath’s name rang around Cardiff as he entered the fray as a 70th-minute sub with Boro easing their way to a first away win of the season.

Matt Clarke’s header and a shot from midfielder Aidan Morris that was deflected in by Bluebirds skipper Aaron Ramsey saw Boro move up to seventh in the Championship table.

While Carrick was quick to salute Latte Lath for being “nothing but respectful and positive” amid Ipswich's approach, he also paid tribute to centre-back Clarke.

Clarke made up for Latte Lath’s absence by opening the scoring with his second goal in a week and putting Carrick on course for an eighth straight victory on Welsh soil.

“Clarkie has been fabulous for us and his two big goals have been a bonus,” Carrick said.

“He defends his box really well and has had a really good impact around the place.

“The goal will give him a bit of extra recognition and it might even make him smile.

“But more importantly, it showed that the work (first team coach) Grant Leadbitter is doing behind the scenes on set-pieces is really paying off.”