Carrick determined to bounce back with Boro

Michael Carrick has finished in fourth, eighth and now 10th in the Championship while in charge at Broro

Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick has said he fully expects to be leading their attempts to get promotion from the Championship next season.

Their play-off hopes were ended by a 2-0 final-day defeat by Coventry City, meaning they finished the season in 10th.

It is the lowest position they have placed under Carrick since his appointment in October 2022.

"I'm carrying on," he told BBC Radio Tees. "We've got a good squad.

"My focus is carrying on to what I can say to the boys today, tomorrow, moving forward to get ready for another good season."

Boro's return of 64 points and a finish of 10th is the lowest under Carrick having been fourth and eighth respectively, with 75 and 69 points respectively.

After a strong November, Middlesbrough were sitting fifth with a play-off finish the least fans were expecting from a team that was scoring lots of goals.

But last season's top scorer Emmanuel Latte Lath was sold to MLS side Atlanta United in January, while teenager Ben Doak, who had been so impressive on loan from Liverpool, did not play again following a thigh injury in January.

Six players - including Morgan Whittaker and Kelechi Iheanacho - were brought in during the transfer window, but that was in the middle of a run of five straight losses.

They recovered with 16 points from seven games, but they have finished with four losses out of their final six matches to fall short. Boro only managed three goals in those last six matches.

Whittaker has not scored since arriving from Plymouth Argyle while former Leicester City striker Iheanacho only scored once, having joined on loan from La Liga side Sevilla.

In losing to Coventry at the CBS Arena, Whittaker hit the post, Finn Azaz had four efforts saved by home goalkeeper Ben Wilson and Delano Burgzorg shot over with another presentable chance.

Middlesbrough lost 11 of 22 Championship games in 2025

'Good squad and good stability'

Carrick came in for criticism during that poor spell in February and many fans will question whether there should be a change during the close season.

But Carrick, the longest-serving manager in the second tier, said that he would prepare for another crack at the Championship in August.

"We've got a good squad, good stability within the group and we're doing a lot of good things," he said.

"We can add to that and improve and things can look up from there."