Bristol City game is bigger than Leicester City for Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough

The Foxes have an embarrassment of riches and have surprised nobody with their early ascent to the second tier summit.

Before the international break, the high-fliers were humbled at the Riverside as Middlesbrough clinched a 1-0 victory.

Anticipation for the Foxes fixture was tangible in Middlesbrough on the day, although Michael Carrick has insisted the upcoming trip to Bristol City is an “even bigger game”.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Carrick, inset, said: “For me, this game's even bigger than the Leicester game.

"There's a natural buzz and there's a natural feeling around the Leicester game, top of the league and coming down from the Premier League, a good team, there was a big feeling in the stadium that there was a big game.

"For us, this is an even bigger game. Going down to Bristol, new manager, first game at home and with total respect for Bristol, it's one that you can take your eye off off the back of Leicester, because everyone's still enjoying Leicester.

"But that's done and this is even bigger for us. We're looking forward to it and we'll be ready for that. But we'll certainly use the energy and confidence that we've gained over recent weeks.”

Carrick is preparing his side to face something of an unknown quantity in their first fixture back following the latest international break.

Middlesbrough will become only the second Championship outfit to face a Bristol City side led by Liam Manning, who was recently appointed as Nigel Pearson’s successor at Ashton Gate.

He has taken the reins having overseen an impressive start to the League One season for Oxford United.

Carrick said: “It's not always easy of course because there's not loads to go on. There's a big element of trust in what we do and trust in the players, you've got to take what's in front of you and embrace it.

"In some ways, it can make it a little bit more difficult, in some ways it kind of simplifies it because there's not a loads to delve into. We can take what we can and trust ourselves an awful lot.”