MICHAEL Carrick says he's "going round in circles" after more frustration for Middlesbrough - with the head coach encouraged by much of what he saw from his side at Preston but admitting Boro need to address the issues that are repeatedly proving costly.

Boro had 20 shots on goal at Deepdale but once again paid the price for a lack of cutting edge as they went down 2-1, extending their winless stretch in the Championship to four games and leaving Carrick's side seven points adrift of the play-off places.

The head coach was frustrated with the result rather than the performance but admits his Boro side need to start finding a way to get what they think they deserve from games.

Preston went ahead through Liam Millar against the run of play with their first shot on goal. Finn Azaz equalised in the second half but Boro were level for just three minutes before Emil Riis struck what proved to be the winner.

"It's a tough one again, it's a tough result to take," said Carrick.

"The results aren't going our way.

"I feel like I'm going round in circles and giving you similar answers every week. I thought tonight we deserved a lot more from the game but we're not getting it. We need to accept and do something about it.

"I can't fault the effort of the boys and the quality of the play was really good but we definitely haven't got the balance between performances and results.

"They hadn't had a touch in our box and we were 1-0 down today. That's happened two or three times over the last six weeks. There was a lot of good things in the game but them moments are going against us. We have to do something about it."

READ MORE:

Asked what he can do to fix the issues that are plaguing Boro, Carrick replied: "It's pretty obvious, isn't it?"

He added: "I think a lot of the performance was positive. You try and build your performance. I thought we had enough to win the game today. Moments are killing us a little bit. We have to defend better at times, we have to block shots, we have to score at the other end. A lot of it is there but we have to get the balance right."

Carrick was pleased for Azaz after the January signing opened his Boro account.

He said: "I thought he had good moments in the game and showed his quality.

"You can see him settling in and it will hopefully be a big moment for him. He's getting into good areas and you can see his wavelength with the other boys is improving. I'm sure there will be more to come."