MICHAEL Carrick told of his immense pride in his Middlesbrough players, despite the disappointment of dropping two points at Carrow Road after Norwich's late show.

Boro responded superbly well to falling behind to Borja Sainz's early opener and were in command at half-time after a double from Tommy Conway and a goal from Finn Azaz.

Conway missed an opportunity from the spot to extend Boro's lead 20 minutes from time, which sparked a late comeback from the Canaries who secured a point thanks a stunning second from Sainz and a fortunate leveller from Kellen Fisher.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Despite the frustration at not taking maximum points, Carrick was full of praise for his players.

He said: “I’m really proud of the boys, to be honest. I thought we were fantastic for the most part.

"To come here against a really good team, play like we did and cause them so many problems and be in such a good position to win the game, I’m really pleased with that.

"I’m disappointed with the way it ended, but listen, they’ve had two goals from 25 yards hit the top corner and then a bad goal from our point of view is the third goal. But other than that, I thought we were very good."

Norwich are unbeaten in 24 games in all competitions on home turf and Carrick says Boro can take confidence, even if the overriding emotion in the away dressing room at full-time was frustration.

He said: “I think it says a lot that we’re leaving disappointed not to come away with all the points.

"They’ve not lost here for a year now, which shows it’s a tough place to come. To then come and play like that and be bitterly disappointed, highlights how well the boys have done.

“It’s not easy to go a goal down and have the confidence, inner-belief and quality to play like that. That more than anything is what we’ll mostly take from this game - knowing that’s what we’re capable of in a really tough environment, against a really good team. We can show that quality.

“It’s tough to take because we limit them to not a lot and it’s two unbelievable strikes. The first one we can probably do something about, in terms of the build-up and getting our pressing structure better. But still, it’s a hell of a hit.

"The second one, even better. It’s tough to take, but in some ways I’m smiling because there was so much good in there today to put us in the good position. To come here and do that is not easy and hopefully the boys take more from that side."