MICHAEL CARRICK received a crash course in the harsh reality of football management as his Middlesbrough side conceded a stoppage-time goal to crash to a 2-1 defeat at Preston.

Carrick’s first game as Boro head coach ended in heartbreak as Jordan Storey outjumped the Boro defence to score after Liam Lindsay nodded the ball back across goal.

The concession was a dispiriting way for Carrick to start his Riverside reign, with the defeat leaving Boro only above the Championship relegation zone on goal difference.

Things had looked much brighter when Chuba Akpom opened the scoring inside the first eight minutes as he headed home from a corner.

However, Emil Riis blasted home an equaliser for Preston towards the end of the first half, and after Rodrigo Muniz failed to convert a couple of decent second-half chances, Boro were hit with a sucker-punch in stoppage time as their inability to defend set-pieces proved their undoing once again.

Carrick’s first team selection saw him line up his side in a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Isaiah Jones on the right of midfield, the returning Riley McGree on the left, and Akpom playing in the hole behind Muniz in attack.

It was a positive statement of intent, and Carrick’s positive approach was rewarded when his side took the lead in just the eighth minute.

Robbie Brady failed to cut out Ryan Giles’ corner at the front post, and after the ball was allowed to pass all the way through the six-yard box, Akpom was left with the simple task of stooping to head home at the back post.

Akpom’s positioning caused Preston problems throughout the first half, with the striker dropping deep to pull the home side’s centre-halves out of position, but it was far from one-way traffic, with Boro’s defence also coming under pressure.

Ben Woodburn’s 28th-minute shot was blocked by Darragh Lenihan after Alvaro Fernandez pulled the ball back into his path, and Preston levelled with an excellent finish from Riis ten minutes before the break.

Riis, who terrorised the Teessiders on the final day of last season, was a major transfer target of former Boro boss Chris Wilder in the summer, and his quality was all-too-apparent as he rifled a brilliant finish into the roof of the net after Giles allowed a bouncing ball to pass across the 18-yard box after his defensive team-mates had failed to deal with a free-kick.

Boro almost restored their lead three minutes before the interval, but while Akpom timed his run perfectly to meet Giles’ cross from the left, he could only sweep a first-time volley wide of the target.

Preston also went close themselves before the break, with Woodburn cutting in from the left before whistling a beautifully-struck drive just wide of the right-hand post.

It was an evenly-matched contest throughout, and Boro were the next threaten shortly before the hour mark. Muniz took a touch to bring McGree’s chipped cross under control, and that enabled the Preston defence to close him down sufficiently to ensure his subsequent prodded shot was deflected behind.

Boro’s Brazilian striker threatened again five minutes later, but while he stole ahead of his marker to meet another inviting cross brilliantly whipped in by Giles, his glanced header flew just over the top.

The Teessiders were just about shading things at that stage, but Preston thought they had claimed the lead when they had the ball in the net for a second time midway through the second half.

Jordan Storey headed home Robbie Brady’s corner, but the ball passed through a crowded area before ending up in the net, and the assistant deemed that at least one Preston player was interfering with play from an offside position.

Akpom shot over after driving into the 18-yard box as Boro pushed for a winner, but it was to be Preston that struck the decisive blow in stoppage time.

Lindsay nodded a free-kick back across goal, and Storey rose above a motionless Boro backline to claim all three points.