Huddersfield Town v Middlesbrough: Michael Carrick 'desperate' to win – but there will be changes
Boro and Huddersfield Town both lost their opening Championship game but whilst Terriers manager Neil Warnock has said he does not have the squad depth to take the cup competition seriously, his opposite number is striking a different note.
That said, Carrick will still make changes from the side beaten at home to Millwall.
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Hide Ad“It’ll be the same as any other game really – we want to put out the strongest team we can within reason," he said. "We’re desperate to try to win the game.
"It won’t be easy. We know – we had a tough game down there last season (Town winning 4-2 in April).
"We understand what we’re going into, and there’s a balance between boys who need the game and other boys who played on Saturday and have maybe played a little bit more.
"We want to get into a rhythm quickly and get up to speed, but we also want everyone to feel a part of it. We’ll judge that, but we certainly won’t be playing a whole new team by any stretch of the imagination, but there will certainly be others that play."
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Hide AdWith Chuba Akpom an unused substitute as the uncertainty over his future continues and Cameron Archer and Aaron Ramsey for now back at Aston Villa after last season’s loans, Carrick will be hoping someone can step forward and provide the cutting edge lacking on Saturday.
Morgan Rogers led the line and fellow summer signing Sammy Silvera came off the bench.
"Morgan’s a terrific player with great ability,” commented his manager. “We’ve got high hopes for him, and Sammy came on and looked really sharp. That’s not surprising because he’s looked sharp all pre-season."