Stoke City v Middlesbrough: Michael Carrick undeterred by Plymouth Argyle blow as he assesses play-off chances

His side’s promotion hopes were dented last week when Plymouth Argyle pulled off an upset at the Riverside, running out as 2-0 winners.

It was a humbling crash back to earth for Middlesbrough, who had toppled league leaders Leicester City the week before.

Middlesbrough are now 11 points adrift of the top six but Carrick is remaining focused on the task at hand despite the disappointment of the Plymouth defeat.

Speaking ahead of his side’s trip to Stoke City, he said: “Obviously it's tougher than it was before Saturday - that's pretty obvious.

"It doesn't really change how we do things, it doesn't really change how we approach the next game.

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

"Anything can happen so we've got to still certainly keep believing and keep trying to do the right things. That's the only thing you can do - it's the next game. The bigger picture doesn't really count when you're going into one game.

"It's all about what happens in the next game, regardless of what's happened or where we are. I don't recall any team going into the next game not trying to win it. If we can do that enough over the rest of the season, then we'll see what we can achieve.”

The Riverside faithful will perhaps be able to take confidence from the fact Middlesbrough have embarked on dazzling runs before. A rocky start to the current campaign was quickly forgotten when Carrick’s men went seven league games unbeaten.

Carrick said: “We're capable of it, the boys are capable of it. We haven't done enough as a group to be higher up the table and that's why the league is what it is.

"It's up to us to do something about it. The belief's there, no problem. We know what we're capable of doing, we've got to put it together.

“We haven’t had some results that we wanted but the boys are alright, we’re looking forward to the game. We always take confidence and always approach the game trying to win. It’s not going to be easy of course not but we’re looking forward to the game.”