Michael Carrick has backed Zack Steffen to recover from his World Cup heartbreak and says the goalkeeper can use his USA squad snub as Middlesbrough motivation for the rest of the season.

Steffen was surprisingly left out of the USA squad for the World Cup this week, despite being a regular for boss Gregg Berhalter in recent years and battling Arsenal's Matt Turner for the gloves during qualifying.

Carrick has been hugely impressed with Manchester City loanee Steffen since his appointment and was surprised by the omission, with Turner, Luton Town's Ethan Horvath and New York City FC's Sean Johnson preferred to the Boro man.

But having spoken to Steffen since he was dealt the bad news, Carrick says the goalkeeper is "in a good place" despite the obvious disappointment, and believes the keeper can use the setback as fuel to continue to impress for Boro between the posts.

Carrick said: “I’ve spoken to him. I’m hugely disappointed for Zack. He’s been terrific, certainly since I’ve been here, so I’m surprised. But I suppose managers and coaches are there to make decisions for their own reasons. 

"I’m very disappointed for Zack and I kind of understand where he’s at. I’ve been in and around World Cups and missed out on one or two and had mixed experiences with them myself. So I spoke to him about that this morning. There is only so much you can say.

"He’s dealt with it very well though, I must say, and looking forward to bouncing back and getting back to doing what he’s done so well in recent weeks for us where he’s been playing really well."

Carrick has absolutely no concerns about Steffen's mindset ahead of Saturday's game at Norwich City, saying the goalkeeper has dealt well with the disappointment.

He said: “In terms of Saturday, we’re 100% confident in him. It’s a blow for him and a huge disappointment for him. But life throws things and ups and downs at you. 

"I know myself, a lot of the time when I’ve been disappointed, actually what people might think is a low point you find yourself coming through that and being stronger and being a better player for it. 

"You use it as a bit of motivation and a stimulus to find that fire from within side of you to want to prove people wrong. I’m sure Zack will do that. We’ll give him the platform to do that and we’ll fully support him. 

"Speaking to him today, I can see his head is in a good place with the weekend in mind. I’m sure deep inside it’s a disappointment and it’s really tough to take - I don’t expect him to be fine with it. He shouldn’t because it’s part of why we play the game to represent our countries. But he’s dealt with it very well and he knows we’re here for him to support him whenever he needs."

Emotions couldn't have been any more different for Riley McGree, who was named in the Australia squad this week.

Carrick said: “I’ve haven’t gone into it too much with Riley. He’s in a good place right now anyway and is obviously playing well. 

"Now he’s got the World Cup to look forward to, but at the same time we’re looking forward to Saturday as much as anything else. Riley knows that, he’ll be looking forward to the game as much as anybody else and then, whatever happens for him after that is great and we’ll support him. But at the moment, all eyes on Saturday."