MICHAEL Carrick admitted he knew it would be "tricky" for Middlesbrough to follow-up their brilliant Sheffield United victory against QPR, which is part of the reason he decided to make changes to his starting XI.

Carrick made three changes to his team for Saturday's visit of Rangers, with Paddy McNair, Dan Barlaser and Aaron Ramsey all coming into the side in place of Dael Fry, captain Jonny Howson and Marcus Forss.

It worked for Carrick, with Boro sluggish in the first half but brilliant after the break, scoring three times to extend their winning run to five games.

Explaining his selection calls, Carrick said: “You’ve got to get the balance right. There was no getting away from the fact that it was a big high for everybody on Wednesday evening. For the players, it took a massive effort - mentally and physically.  That then added to a quicker turnaround that what we’re used to with the Tuesday-Saturday.

"We’ve also got a squad with a lot of quality players and I want everybody to be a part of it. I’ve said often enough, I trust everyone.

"It was AJ's (Aaron Ramsey's) first game in a long time which is a big ask in some ways, but I trusted him to do it. Dan (Barlaser) got his first start too. But the changes were more about the high from Wednesday night and trying to make sure we maintained our flow. I kind of thought it might be tricky, but that’s football. You’ve got to wipe those moments out."

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Barlaser had a big hand in Boro's second half improvement, teeing up the opening goal for Chuba Akpom with a pinpoint cross.

Carrick said: "He's a really good player, Dan. He wants to get on the ball, make things happen, influence the play. He'll be delighted. First start for him and he can be proud of his day's work."