MICHAEL Carrick played down the significance of his decision to drop Luke Ayling to the bench for the first time this season at Norwich City, with Middlesbrough's head coach keen to keep his squad fresh ahead during a busy spell.

Ayling nailed down the Boro right-back spot after joining from Leeds on loan in January and started the first 11 games this season.

But he was left out at Carrow Road on Sunday, with Anfernee Dijksteel coming into the side - and, on his 28th birthday, the full-back took his opportunity, impressing against the Canaries.

Dijksteel played a starring role in Tommy Conway's second goal for Boro in the first half and linked up well with Ben Doak throughout on the right flank.

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Carrick was delighted with Dijksteel's display but keen to not make too much of a big deal of his selection swap.

“We’ve got a good squad and good players," he said.

"We’ve got a lot of games coming up that we’ll need everybody to be ready for. It was just the right thing to do today.

"I thought all the boys played well and Anf particularly. As a team, and as individuals within the team, I thought we were really, really good.”

Dijksteel now stands every chance of keeping his place for Saturday's visit of Coventry City, when Carrick's side will look to build on the many positives the head coach took from Carrow Road, despite the disappointment of dropping two points from a position of power.

After beating Sheffield United last week, Boro looked well set to record successive victories but Norwich salvaged an unlikely point.

Carrick said: "We’ve had two games this week against really good teams where we’ve been the best team and we’ve played really well. We’re disappointed not to have six points and, moving forward through the season, that’s a real positive for us to know we can do that."