'Definitely' - Michael Carrick under no illusions about Middlesbrough's early points tally
While a marked improvement on last season, Michael Carrick is under no illusions that Middlesbrough's current points tally is still below par.
Defeat to Sunderland on Saturday left Boro 12th in the Championship table with just eight points from their opening six games. While there have been positives to take from their start to the campaign - with their performances flummoxing many experts as to why they haven't picked up more points - ultimately, they only have themselves to blame for not picking up more points so far.
Mistakes cost them goals and points against Derby County and Portsmouth, while their inability to be ruthless when dominating possession in games has been a concerning theme throughout the season as new attacking talent bed into the team.
READ MORE: Why there is no such thing as a Middlesbrough 'best XI' for boss Michael Carrick
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As far as their start is concerned, asked if he felt his side should have more points at this stage, Carrick said: "Definitely. Performance-wise, when you judge it on how the games have gone, that's pretty obvious. Over a period of time, I like to think if we keep doing the right things we'll get the benefits."
Boro came into the season with high aspirations for a promotion challenge, and that hasn't changed. As things stand, with 40 games still to play, they are three points behind sixth-placed Leeds United and eight points off early table toppers West Brom - with a trip to the Hawthorns coming next week.
With unpredictable results happening across the division at this stage in the season, however, the Boro head coach isn't spending too much time worrying about their position in the league table right now.
"I think over a period of time [the table will start to settle]," he said. "With the start of the season as it is, historically this league does throw up unexpected results. It's not easy to stay at the top. When I took over it was October time and we were near the bottom [before making the play-offs].
"Last season we were a lot worse off than we are now and ended up close. That's the nature of the league. It doesn't really come into my thinking at the moment. It's more how we need to get better. But there's the working on it to get better, which I think we will do and we're capable of doing. We'll be fine."