MICHAEL Carrick has sympathy for his Middlesbrough players after the defeat at West Brom, with the head coach encouraged by a lot of what he saw at the Hawthorns despite obvious disappointment at the result.

Boro's winless start to the Championship season stretched to four games after their 4-2 defeat against the Baggies, with Carrick's side having to play out the last 39 minutes with 10 men after Tommy Smith was sent off for picking up two yellow cards on his return to the side.

Carrick said West Brom's first goal should have been disallowed for what he felt was a Cedric Kipre push on Jonny Howson before the defender lashed home the opener after a long throw from the right, with Boro then allowing John Swift the time to pick his spot for the second goal. Emmanuel Latte Lath hit back for Boro, but the visitors suffered a nightmare start to the second half when Lukas Engel gifted Albion a third goal, before Smith saw red.

Carrick was delighted with the way Boro responded after going down to 10 men, with the head coach praising substitutes Isaiah Jones, Paddy McNair, Matt Crooks and Marcus Forss. Forss gave Boro hope with a goal from the spot on 84 minutes, before West Brom substitute Jeremy Sarmiento secured the points for the hosts and ensured Boro's wait for a win goes on.

Carrick said: "I feel for the boys actually. There are two sides to it. There's the result, obviously, which we can't hide from, but there's what happens within that to get the results. We've come here, conceded four shots on target and conceded four goals.

"One was a foul, one was a mistake, for a large part there was a lot of good things in there. We conceded at the wrong time but there was a lot of good things from the first half and we finished the game strong and managed it well with 10 men, and I thought the boys who came off the bench were fantastic and made a difference.

"In a strange way I'm really encouraged by what I know the boys are capable of and actually what we're doing in parts of games. It's a strange feeling in many ways but it doesn't knock my belief in terms of what the boys are capable of."

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On West Brom's opener, Carrick added: "It's a big moment and it's hard not to get too frustrated.

"I thought it was a clear two-handed push in the back, but that's football and through the season you're going to suffer things that go against you."

Despite the disappointing start to the season, Carrick remains convinced Boro will come good.

He said: "I'm not sat here making excuses thinking everything is fantastic, because we haven't won yet, but at the same point there's more to it than that and it's what's going on behind that.

"As I say I'm encouraged by a lot of what I'm seeing. Moments are hurting us a little bit for whatever reason, goals that you wouldn't normally concede, which again is football and you can't hide from it, but it doesn't knock my belief. If the boys and the squad keep doing what they're doing, the results will come."