Sunderland's Trai Hume 'should have been sent off vs Middlesbrough'

Hume only received a yellow card after clattering into Boro's striker after just nine minutes, a "massive decision" from referee Simon Hooper, says Carrick, who felt the Sunderland right-back should have been sent off.

Carrick suggested that he felt Hooper only opted for a yellow card because the tackle was so early in the game.

Boro's boss hasn't had chance to speak to the referee about the decision but "calmly" made his feelings known to the fourth official.

“It’s 100% a red card for the challenge on Manu," said Boro's boss.

"I don’t get why that’s not been given. For me, it’s a case of when’s the line of time. When it happens so early they say it’s too early so it’s a yellow card because they don’t want to send someone off. When is the time it becomes a red card? I don’t know.

"It’s a bit of a grey area for me. I don’t know if that is the reason, but it’s hard to understand why that isn’t given. I’ve not spoken to the referee about it, just the fourth official, and calmly, I may add.”

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Red cards have had a major impact on recent Wear-Tees derbies, with Dan Neil sent off last season and Dael Fry given his marching orders 12 months prior.

It was something Carrick spoke to his players about before the game and he was pleased with the way they took it on board - which made the Boro boss all the more frustrated with the Hume decision.

Carrick also felt Latte Lath wasn't quite at his best after the challenge.

"In terms of how he is, he managed to get through the game," he said.

"It's a massive decision. Twice we've been here with me as manager and there's been red cards which have had a massive impact on the game. Today was that.

"We spoke about that going out, managing that and playing close to the edge without going over the edge. I thought we managed that really well. But then we were relying on that when it goes the other way, and it didn't go our way."