Wat a chance for us to bounce back from defeat - boss
WHILE Michael Carrick conceded that losing to Sunderland hurt more than the average defeat, attentions must quickly move forward with another big game against Watford on Saturday.
The defeat at the Stadium of
Light on Sunday was just the fourth under Carrick so far and the positive is they have managed to win every game immediately after the previous three.
The Boro head coach will be hoping to continue that trend on Saturday at the Riverside, with the reaction of his players holding the key now.
Reflecting after the game, Carrick was keen to praise his players for their overall efforts since his arrival in October, noting the high standards they have set.
Boro are ultimately on a journey with their new head coach and he was keen to stress the important thing after the defeat was learning from it and improving as a result. He said: “If you are going to be successful and going to achieve things in football you are going to have days where it does not quite happen for you.
“It doesn’t go well for you and you’re going to have bumps in the road.
“Some are bigger bumps than others, some hurt a little more than others, of course.
“At the same point, it’s what happens at the end of the season or where you are then which defines the season. Most of the time you learn more from the experience of a setback, in terms of what it was like in the game, individually and as a team.
“How you cope with certain scenarios and how to do better next time. That’s just part of life.
“The boys have been great and have earned a lot of credit over the last two or three months.
“Now we’re looking to what’s next for us.
“Watford is the next game in front of us to bounce back.”