HE made five changes to his team at Blackburn and four at Sheffield Wednesday - predicting Michael Carrick's starting XI at the minute is no simple task.

Boro's head coach stuck with a largely settled side for the most part last season but that has not been the case in the difficult early stages of the current campaign.

With a new-look team, Carrick is clearly still trying to find a winning formula. Having players on the same wavelength, he says, is the "ideal scenario" but that takes time and it's hard to stick with the same partnerships when, ultimately, Boro aren't winning games.

Dael Fry and Darragh Lenihan are pretty much nailed on starters at the heart of Carrick's defence, which has long been the case for Hayden Hackney and Jonny Howson in midfield, though Lewis O'Brien replaced the captain at Hillsborough in midweek.

Elsewhere, though, Carrick has chopped and changed, which he admits, ideally, wouldn't be the case.

“I think the partnerships and connections and wavelengths is the ideal scenario," he says.

"Sometimes that can be taken away from us because of injuries or we might make a change because of loss of form or trying different things.

"But, of course, over time, consistency is key. Consistency on an individual level in terms of performance, consistency to grow little units within the team and playing little games within the game.

"Whether it’s individual battles, midfield versus midfield, forward against defence, there are all sorts of different battles. But ultimately, having that understanding and being on that wavelength so you’re not second-guessing does help. That can take time though, and is something that we’re working towards to get that balance right."

READ MORE:

Carrick is likely to make more changes for the visit of Southampton this weekend. Isaiah Jones staked his claim for a start with an impressive showing from the bench at Sheffield Wednesday, while Sam Greenwood will be hoping for a first start. The head coach must also decide whether to stick with Josh Coburn up-front or recall Emmanuel Latte Lath.

Coburn made his first start of the season at Sheffield Wednesday.

Carrick said: "I'm not expecting Josh to get 30 or 40 goals but he has a part to play. He knows that, he'll expect that of himself.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how he develops and how his season goes. He's trained great, he's improved since pre-season and I'm looking forward to see what the next few months brings."