MICHAEL Carrick was happy to hold his hands up and admit Boro have never done any planning or preparations for the possibility of winning indirect free-kicks inside the penalty box - which made him all the happier when his substitutes were "smart" and decisive in their planning of what proved to be the matchwinner at Swansea.

Boro ended their run of defeats in strange circumstances at Swansea after winning an indirect free-kick just six yards or so from goal when home keeper Carl Rushworth picked up a back-pass.

Having understandably not done any planning for such a rare occurrence, Carrick watched on intrigued from the technical area as his players - specifically substitutes Morgan Rogers and Sammy Silvera - plotted how to find a way through the sea of white shirts on the goalline, with the Australian winger spotting a gap and lashing into the bottom corner.

Carrick said: “It’s a strange one. I’ve not seen it for a long time.

"It certainly doesn’t mean it’s a guaranteed goal because it’s not easy to find a way through. Sammy did.

"It was quite interesting to see what the lads came up with because it’s not something you see often and therefore we haven’t planned for it, to be honest. I’ll hold my hands up to that.

"But the boys, two of the younger boys as well, have been smart enough and bright enough that stepped up and said, ‘this is my moment, I know what I’m going to do’, and that pleases me even more. It made the difference.

“They literally line everyone up on the line, so it’s not a given. Sammy managed to find a gap."

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With back-passes so uncommon in the game, Carrick wasn't necessarily expecting referee Matthew Donohue to blow his whistle, even though the Boro boss was certain there'd been an infringement.

He said: “I was appealing for it when it happened. I’ve not seen it back but my instinct was that it was definitely a back-pass at the time. You don’t always see it, but straight away it registered that we need to appeal for that. It’s just not something you see very often, whether that’s because players are away not to do it or what. I don’t know. But it’s certainly unusual. Thankfully, today it went our way."

It isn't the first time Carrick has been involved in a game where a goal was scored in such circumstances, with the Boro head coach recalling a similar incident at Manchester United. He wasn't involved in taking the free-kick, understandable when you consider who was on his team at the time.

"I was down the line because I had Ronaldo and Rooney ahead of me," he laughed.

"I actually remember Cristiano scoring one like that at Old Trafford. But you’re going back a long time for that. I was nowhere near it because they were better than me. I’ve certainly not seen it for a long time."

Silvera's goal secured all three points for Boro after Jamal Lowe had cancelled out Sam Greenwood's opener.

There was one fresh concern for Boro despite the victory, with Seny Dieng forced off injured in stoppage time after slipping taking a goal-kick.

Carrick said: "I have no news apart from he said he felt it when he slipped. We'll have to see."