Middlesbrough FC v Norwich City: Clear thinking is Michael Carrick's solution to difficult run of form

On Wednesday Boro host a Norwich City side whose Championship play-off hopes have been ignited by the opposite sort of form – four wins and a two draws in their last six matches.

But whilst some fans will be anxious to see change and maybe an angrier man in the dugout, it is not in Carrick's nature to get flustered or to deviate from how he thinks the game should be played.

"You've got to keep balanced and hungry and think clearly," argued the former England midfielder, whose only win in the sequence came against leaders Leicester City.

"You've got to feed off the passion and use that to fire you up but there's definitely an element of being calm and thinking clearly.

"I fully believe we're doing the right things.

Sign up to our new Sports Editor’s TeamTalk newsletter available this week

"Little things accumulate and snowball. That's the fine margins of football.

"There's been games at times where we've been in control and haven’t finished them off and they've maybe made the other ones that little bit more challenging.

"It's up to us to put that right.

"We need to win games. The boys have developed a lot as a group and individually but certainly winning games is what counts.

"Sometimes when we've played well and haven't won we've been criticised and other times when we haven't played that well and won everyone thinks it's an unbelievable performance. It's never really like that but it does come down to winning games."

One thing that could change is that Jonny Howson and Isaiah Jones are getting back to full fitness after returning to training.

Captain Howson's knee injury is not as bad as first feared and winger Jones is ahead of schedule after hamstring trouble.

"They’ve obviously been out for different periods of time so we’ll have to see when the time is right for them to be back involved with the games," said Carrick. "Other than that, it’s pretty much the same (squad). Everyone who is out is a little bit closer but not as close as Jonny and Izzy."