GEORGE EDMUNDSON battled through illness to help Middlesbrough beat Luton Town this afternoon – and was sick on the Riverside pitch on two separate occasions.

Neto Borges missed out on today’s 5-1 win over the Hatters because of an illness issue, but Michael Carrick revealed that Edmundson was also struggling badly before kick-off.

The centre-half was going to be left out of the starting side at one stage, with Dael Fry primed to step up from the substitutes’ bench, but insisted he wanted to play despite feeling unwell.

He was sick on the pitch in both the first and second halves, but battled through gamely before being replaced with 15 minutes remaining.

“Neto missed out through illness, and George very nearly did as well,” said Carrick. “He was touch and go. He struggled to get through the game and was sick on the pitch in either half.

“It shows his character to get through the game. Dael was ready to start at one stage. He was ill overnight, then sick on the pitch twice. So fair play to him, that kind of shows where the boys are at - Neto the same getting through two games for us as well. We had to play Luke (Ayling) at left-back and I thought he did particularly well.”

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Boro claimed their biggest win of the season as they triumphed 5-1, but while Carrick was delighted with his side’s clinical finishing, he felt their overall performance was in keeping with a number of their more recent displays.

“I was pleased with a lot of it,” said Carrick. “I have to say, though, that I’m not really getting carried away by it because I think we’ve been doing a lot of that build-up and breaking for some time now.

“The boys were clinical and ruthless, and obviously have a feeling about scoring goals at the moment. They’ve also been shared amongst the group, which is great. But, from that side of things, it wasn’t really a big jump for me. Yes, the goals came, so it probably feels like it was. But I think a lot of what we’ve been doing in terms of building up the play has been good.

“What I will say is that playing against Luton, with the way they play man-for-man, is different, and we had to adapt to it. You’re not really getting many passes man-for-man, and I think the first 25 minutes showed that. So, it’s about trying to be decisive when you do get it, and I thought the boys adapted unbelievably well.”