SACRIFICE is required to be successful, as Michael Carrick knows only too well.

It helped him reach the top as a player and he knows it's the same in management.

When Carrick was appointed Middlesbrough's head coach back in October, he relocated to the North-East, away from the family home and his wife and children in Manchester.

Such is life as a head coach, he sees more of Boro's staff than he does his own family.

The days are long. The mind rarely switches off. But he loves it.

"You're all in," says Carrick.

"It takes over your life, of course it does, it should do, it did when I was playing and it certainly does now.

"It's what we enjoy about it, the responsibility and the challenge of improving all the time.

"It's great, it's all I know, it's a great place to be, I love working here. It doesn't feel like hard work."

It might not feel like hard work but Carrick works hard. He's in at Rockliffe early, he leaves late. And even after the training ground door has closed behind him, his mind is still very much on the job.

He says: "We believe in working hard and it does take over your life in terms of never really switching off and watching other games to see what other teams are up to and what players are doing and can we use this or that.

"It's not for me to say it's how it has to be. You are what you are. Some coaches might see it differently and that's fine.

"In terms of how long you work, your hours, that's up to you. Some manage time better than others. It's about being efficient and effective with your time.

"For us it's always about the next challenge of trying to become better."

The next challenge is the toughest in the Championship, the visit of runaway leaders and Premier League-bound Burnley tonight (8pm). And for Carrick, an old rivalry revisited. Boro's head coach and Vincent Kompany went at it as players for years at Manchester United and Manchester City. They were the fiercest of rivals - but that doesn't mean there's not enormous respect.

"Of course there are ones you can respect because there's understanding of what it takes to be at that level and perform and win at that level, individually and as a team," says Carrick.

"At the time you're going up against each other - this isn't me and Vincent, I just mean in general - you might dislike them, it might be stronger than that because of the rivalry, but there's always respect.

"And probably more respect when it dies down and you look back and think of the players and teams you've faced over the years. When you take that head to head rivalry away, there's a huge amount of respect.

"As a player and captain what he did at City, as hard as it is for me to say, he did a terrific job and had some great times there.

"I'm sure he's the same as me, that's almost irrelevant now. I don't really like talking about my playing days too much now. I just focus and look forward in this role and what it brings."

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Burnley could win promotion at the Riverside tonight if Luton fail to beat Millwall in the early kick-off. Boro will obviously be out to stop them as they look to get back on track after last week's slip-up at Huddersfield, but regardless of what happens tonight, Carrick has been hugely impressed by the job Kompany has done.

He said: "To be in this position at this stage of the season and how they've gone about it, I fully respect the way they've done that. We've tried to do what we believe in and go about it in a way we believe in as well.

"We've done alright. We feel we've improved and done alright but we still have things to achieve. They're a bit further ahead than us, further ahead in the league and further ahead with time around the group.

"That's where we want to be, we want to be at the top, we want to be in the top two, we're trying to chase that, whether it's this season or next season. We're striving to do it but in our own way."