TURN back the clock five months and a Middlesbrough summer exit for Anfernee Dijksteel felt not just possible but probable.

The defender had been a bit-part player in Michael Carrick's first 18 months in charge, with opportunities in the Boro side proving hard to come by. And when chances did present themselves, Dijksteel hadn't taken them.

Luke Ayling had signed a permanent deal after his hugely impressive loan stint in the second half of last season, Tommy Smith was expected to be closing in on a first team return and Dijksteel, it seemed, would be pushed further down the pecking order and, inevitably, allowed to leave.

Instead, however, Dijksteel stayed put. And he's going the right way about succeeding where he previously struggled and earning Boro opportunities under Carrick.

"He's training as well and playing as well as I've seen since I've been here," said Boro's head coach this week.

That came after Dijksteel impressively grasped his opportunity at Norwich last week. Previously, Dijksteel's rare outings in the starting XI have come as a result of injuries or suspensions but his Carrow Road selection was different. Ayling, the nailed on right back starter for the last 10 months, was available but left out and Dijksteel instead got the nod.

That was his fourth start of the season before the end of October - already halfway to the number of starts he made in the entirety of last term.

"I’m really pleased with him," said Carrick.

"He hasn’t played as much football as he might have liked in recent times and I’ve sat here and talked a number of times about Anf and other members of the squad and how important they still are even if they’re not right at the forefront of playing in that moment. Fair play to Anf, he’s shown his quality. He came into a really tough game and done well."

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Dijksteel's previous league starts had come against Portsmouth, Cardiff and Stoke, with his fine display in the win over the Potters leading Carrick to explain how difficult a decision it was to leave him out for the following game against West Brom.

The 28-year-old responded well to that disappointment, not that Carrick would have expected or wanted anything else.

"I don’t want to downplay that at all, but I think it’s what you expect as well," he said.

"It’s the only way to react: get your head down, train hard, work hard and wait for your next opportunity. It might be the very next game, it might be two or three down the line.

"That’s not just one player, that’s every player really. It’s the nature of the job."

And part of Carrick's job is making tough decisions. So who starts at right-back against Coventry City tomorrow?

“Anf is a different kind of right-back to Luke and that gives us the choice," said the head coach.

"Again, it’s a case that one might play one game and someone might play the next one. It’s not a case of falling out or writing anyone off or anything like that, it’s just sometimes certain games suit certain players and their styles and strengths because of what we’re looking to do. We’ve got a squad capable of rotating if we need to."