THE short-term future of Middlesbrough's Fulham loanee Rodrigo Muniz remains unclear, but Michael Carrick has praised the striker for his attitude and approach, despite his lack of football.

Since starting for Boro in Carrick's first game in charge at Preston, Muniz has played just 55 minutes and was left out of the squad all together for the win over Millwall last week.

Reports have emerged this month claiming Fulham are planning to recall the Brazilian striker and send him elsewhere in the second half of the season in the hope he plays more regularly, but as things stand the 21-year-old remains at Boro.

Asked whether he expects that to still be the case come the end of the window, Carrick said: “It’s hard to expect anything in January when there are other clubs and other people involved.

"You’ve got to be open-minded at this time of the year to see what falls, especially with loan players ins and outs. As I said, it’s not always just our opinion that is the final word, so we just have to see on that."

Carrick added: “Rodrigo has been great, he’s trained fantastically well and he’s a really nice lad. It’s one of those things when you’ve got a big squad and good options. Unfortunately, at certain points some players play more than others, and some play a bit less. That’s something we’re conscious of and trying to improve. But that’s the constant balance that we face."

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The addition of Cameron Archer this month pushed Muniz further down the pecking order. Boro are looking to further bolster their squad before the end of the window but if the deadline passes with Archer as the only arrival, Carrick says he'll be happy with the make-up of his squad.

He said: “Of course, I’m happy with the squad, and I’ve got no reason to think any otherwise. Everybody who has played has been great, and the training levels have been unbelievable.

"The spirit within the group is great and the standard of training is going up all the time, so I’m delighted with the squad that we have at this moment in time. I trust all the players 100%, and we need to have that between now and the end of the season."

That doesn't mean Boro aren't pushing to make signings, with Carrick saying the club have "options they are exploring". Dan Barlaser remains a target and Boro were this week again linked with young Leyton Orient forward Daniel Nkrumah.

Carrick said: “No updates really. Until there is any news to confirm anything then there is nothing to update you on. Of course there is work going on to try and improve as a group of players. That’s just natural, and that work never stops. But at the moment, there is nothing new to tell you.

“I don’t think I could sit here and say I expect anything at this stage of the January transfer window. We want to add but there are obviously other parties and other people involved in that, it’s not just about what we want. There are two clubs involved in every transfer or loan, so you can never predict what to expect.

"But certainly, we have options that we are exploring and we’ll see what comes at the end of it. We’re trying to do the right things, but we’ve got a way of doing things. We know quite clearly what we want and how we want to improve, so we’re quite calm about the situation."

Meanwhile, Carrick was delighted to see Matthew Hoppe called up to join the USA squad in their January training camp. They face Serbia on Wednesday and Colombia next Saturday.

Carrick said: "It's a big boost and it's deserved. It's a slightly different international call-up to what we're used to over this side of the world but it's two good games for him to play a part in and I definitely wouldn't stand in his way. It's important for his own experience."