Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick makes strong admission about his future

Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick insists it is his intention to remain at the club.

Defeat at Coventry City on Saturday ended any play-off Championship hopes and Boro ended the campaign in 10th place – a huge disappointment for their fans following an inconsistent second half of the season.

“I’m carrying on,” said Carrick, when asked about his future. “I think we’ve got a good squad, and my focus is on carrying on.

“I’ll be speaking to the boys moving forward, to get ready for what will hopefully be a good season. I think we’ve got a good squad, good stability within the group. We’re doing a lot of good things, and if we can add to that and improve, things can look up from there.”

“We all tried to achieve something,” said Carrick. “We felt we could achieve something and felt we were good enough. We ultimately just haven’t been good enough.

“Today was defining because it was the last one, but ultimately you are where you are based on a lot of games played. We created our own expectations and wanted more.

“We’ve shown at times why the expectations are high and what we’re capable of doing, we just haven’t been able to do it long enough or often enough really. “There are young players in that dressing room who will learn from it and benefit from it and be stronger for the experience. We’ve all got to use this as a stepping stone to something bigger.”

He added: “I’ve had plenty of setbacks in sport and you’ve just got to use them,” said Carrick. “They’re not nice when you go through them. “But there are ways to go through them and the way we’ve gone through, and the group still feeling together but disappointed, offers some encouragement. “The group is strong. We’re all in it together. We care about each other and want to do well for each other.

“That’s what gives me the encouragement that we can use the disappointment and benefit from it. It’s not a nice feeling right now but it’s part of sport and you’ve got to stand up, take it and deal with it.”