MICHAEL CARRICK felt his Middlesbrough side took an “important step” forward as they repelled QPR’s second-half comeback before closing out a 4-1 win at Loftus Road.

Boro played some excellent football as they raced into a two-goal lead in the opening 35 minutes, with Riley McGree opening the scoring before Tommy Conway scored a second goal as he converted Finn Azaz’s cross.

However, QPR rallied towards the end of the first half and were threatening to stage a comeback when Steve Cook’s shot deflected in off Anfernee Dijksteel.

Seny Dieng made three crucial saves before QPR scored, and Boro dug in collectively to ensure they kept their opponents at arm’s length before late goals from Emmanuel Latte Lath and Dan Barlaser made things safe.

There have been occasions this season when Boro have let promising positions slip, so Carrick was delighted to see his players successfully managing tonight’s game in order to secure a deserved victory.

“I’m delighted,” said the Boro boss. “We had to work for it, to be honest. I thought we played some really good football in spells. Maybe not as long as we wanted to, and we could have made it a little bit easier for ourselves, but credit to QPR for that.

“They made us work for it,  and we showed a bit of character and composure in the second half to see the game through.

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“It’s a good step for the boys. There’ll be times when we win games playing well, there’ll be others where we’re maybe not so good. But the boys know they always have to give absolutely everything, and they do. The attitude and effort is absolutely top drawer.

“You can never ask questions about that, but maybe it’s just that little bit of experience in terms of seeing games out and knowing how to react in certain situations.

“It was a test tonight. It was a test at 2-1 to see what happened next. But I thought we dealt with that ever so well, and the boys coming off the bench made a really positive impact for us, seeing the game out. It was a nice way to see it out.”

The victory lifted Boro to seventh position in the table, and ensured there was no negative fallout from last weekend’s home defeat to Coventry.

The Teessiders return to the Riverside on Saturday to host Luton Town in a lunchtime kick-off, and the hope is clearly that they can use tonight’s win as a springboard to launch a sustained run of positive results.

“I’m not getting carried away it, but it’s a really good step, without doubt,” said Carrick. “For us to come here and win the game, however we won it, was important.

“The way it happened, I think the boys will take a big boost from it, and they’ll certainly take a pat on the back for it from me. They’ll take a lot from knowing we’ve seen that one off.”