MICHAEL Carrick has jumped to the defence of Lukas Engel and says he has full confidence in the left-back despite his tough start to life at Middlesbrough and his Sheffield Wednesday nightmare.

Engel, a summer signing from Danish club Silkeborg, has endured a difficult transition into English football and had a night to forget at Hillsborough.

After missing the weekend defeat to Blackburn, the 24-year-old returned to the side in the absence of the injured Alex Bangura but had a torrid first half against Wednesday and was replaced at half-time, with Carrick shifting Rav van den Berg over to left-back and bringing on Isaiah Jones.

Carrick says Engel will learn from his humbling Hillsborough experience, while praising van den Berg for the way he adjusted to his position switch.

"Lukas is fine. I don't doubt Lukas one bit, it's just sometimes you have nights that don't quite go for you," said Boro's head coach.

"Their wide player was very dangerous first half, but as a team we didn't really help each other. We were a little bit half-hearted and so the spaces were a little bit bigger.

"Lukas will be fine though. It's all part of the experience. Sometimes it's a nice experience, other times it's an uncomfortable one. But that's all part of adapting really and growing. In the end, he will be better for the experience.

"On the other side, to see Rav adapt like he did and go left-back - a position he's never played before - and do as well as he did was fantastic. I love to see that. Obviously the attacking side of it wasn't really his thing, but for a 19-year-old lad to find yourself put on the opposite flank in a game like that is not easy. But he didn't bat an eyelid, he took on the challenge and I thought he was fantastic, so that speaks volumes about him."

READ MORE:

Bangura was missing on Tuesday night after picking up an injury on his debut at Blackburn, while Marcus Forss was also out, with Carrick facing an anxious wait to discover the severity of both setbacks.

He said: "It is a hamstring injury that Alex has picked up. We're still assessing that one in terms of how bad it is, but obviously he wasn't right for tonight.

"Marcus has an issue with his thigh. Again, we're assessing that to see whether it's a matter of days or a little bit longer, but we'll have to wait and see."