MICHAEL CARRICK is confident Josh Coburn will hit the goal trail soon, and is delighted with the 20-year-old’s development in Middlesbrough’s first team this season.

Coburn was Boro’s most threatening forward in yesterday’s 2-0 home defeat to Stoke City, forcing a decent first-half save out of Potters goalkeeper Jack Bonham before cracking a long-range strike against the crossbar.

Earlier this summer, it had looked like Coburn would be heading out of the Riverside on another loan deal to follow last season’s successful spell at Bristol Rovers.

Instead, Carrick opted to keep the Bedale-born forward on Teesside, and with Emmanuel Latte Lath still settling into his new surrounds following his summer move from Atalanta, Coburn has started Boro’s last eight league matches.

He has only scored one goal in those games – the second-half winner at Watford at the end of last month – but Carrick is confident he is capable of being a regular scorer in the Championship provided he keeps hitting the standards he has been displaying in the last month-and-a-half.

“Forwards obviously like scoring goals, but Josh is doing a lot of good work for the team,” said Carrick, whose side make a swift return to action when they head to League One Exeter City in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Tuesday night. “I’m sure the goals will come for him at some stage, whether it’s this week, next week or whenever.

READ MORE:

“He’s a young lad, and he’s still learning. He’s learning quickly and developing really well. There are a lot of good things in his game already. It’s a positive that we’ve got him and he’s doing so well, and the goals will come.”

It remains to be seen whether Coburn starts against Exeter, with Latte Lath having started Boro’s last two League Cup matches against Bolton Wanderers and Bradford City.

Carrick made a number of changes in both of those games, and will be tempted to do the same things at St James’ Park given that Boro are in the midst of a run of five matches in the space of 14 days.

However, the Boro boss will also be mindful that Tuesday’s game against an Exeter side that are winless in their last seven games in all competitions offers a great opportunity to make the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

“We’ll approach Tuesday as a really important game,” said Carrick. “Luton went there and got beat, so we know it’s not an easy game by any means. We know we need to be at the top of our game and play extremely well to get the result we want.”