MICHAEL CARRICK is hoping his Middlesbrough super-subs continue to make a positive impact as he looks to guide his side into the Championship play-off positions.

Boro return to action after the international break at Oxford United tomorrow afternoon sitting in seventh position, their joint-highest placing of the season so far. They were in a rich vein of form prior to the international hiatus, with Carrick’s substitutions playing a key role in the Teessiders’ climb up the table.

Emmanuel Latte Lath came off the bench to score the winner in last month’s 1-0 victory over Sheffield United, while both Latte Lath and Dan Barlaser found the net after coming on as substitutes in the 4-1 win over QPR that marked Boro’s most recent away outing.

Carrick has repeatedly spoken of the importance of Boro’s squad depth, and the head coach is hoping his players continue to have a positive impact off the bench if they are not part of the starting line-up.

“It’s never just about the 11 players on the pitch at the start of the game,” said the Boro boss. “Everyone has a part to play and it’s up to us to get the selection decisions right and get the balance right.

“Over the last couple of weeks, all the boys have really produced for us - including the boys coming off the bench. Games can flip quite quickly, so, in terms of the pattern of a game, how it started or how it’s going at any given time, isn’t necessarily going to be how it finishes.

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“Many games are decided towards the end, so who is on the pitch at the end of the game can be just as important as who starts a game. That’s ultimately when it’s decided. We always have the option to bring five players on, and we always have many strong options to bring on. We try and use that in the right way when we can.”

There have been times during Carrick’s Middlesbrough reign when he has been criticised for being too cautious with his substitute decisions, often waiting until quite late in a game before turning to his bench.

The last few matches have illustrated the depth of the resources at his disposal, but the Boro boss claims it can be counter-productive to immediately throw on substitutes as soon as things start to go wrong in a game.

Sometimes, it is better to stick with the players on the pitch in an attempt to change the course of a match. On other occasions, a change of personnel is exactly what is required. Determining which course of action to take is one of the trickiest tasks a head coach has to tackle.

“It’s a challenge,” said Carrick, who has spent the week digesting injury bulletins relating to Aidan Morris, who will definitely be absent tomorrow afternoon, and Hayden Hackney, who is a major doubt for the trip to the Kassam Stadium. “The dynamics of when to make your subs comes into it.

“Sometimes, you might look and think you don’t need to make one because of the way the game is, the feeling and the combinations. You can just naturally think, ‘We need to make a sub’ at certain times in a game, but actually that can sometimes disturb things a little bit.

“But one thing I will say, when the boys are coming into the side or coming off the bench, we feel there is a level of consistency to the performances and that’s a testament to how the boys train and work together. It’s a massive strength to have the options to make the changes if we need to.”