Ray Parlour urges Middlesbrough to learn Jonny Howson lesson and drops exciting Michael Carrick prediction | OneFootball

Boro are among the chasing pack as it stands, and Parlour expects even more in the months to come

Former Middlesbrough man Ray Parlour has backed Michael Carrick to lead his old side into the Championship play-offs this season but believes they must learn from Jonny Howson's recent absence.

Boro have experienced a mixed start to the campaign, with four victories from their first nine matches of the season, and head into the International break off the back of a 2-1 defeat to Watford.

With recent arrivals given the time to bed in, the Teessiders have started to purr in recent weeks, with an eye-catching 1-0 victory over high-flying West Brom at the Hawthorns the pick of their results so far.

And with Carrick continuing to prove himself as a top manager at the level, Parlour has every faith that his former side can be competing for a return to the Premier League come the end of the season, despite the injury to one of their key stars.

Ray Parlour backs Michael Carrick for success at Middlesbrough

In comparison to years gone by, Carrick will be delighted with the start to the season, with last year bringing no victory in his side’s first seven matches of the season, before he managed to turn things around.

14 points from nine games signifies a much better start this time around, with key victories seeing The Riverside outfit part of a cluster of nine teams at the top of the table separated by just five points at this early juncture.

With that in mind, any side that puts together a strong set of results will likely give themselves an advantage in this year’s promotion race, with the calibre of teams at the top proving to be very evenly balanced at this stage of the season.

And Parlour is of the belief that Boro can be one of the sides competing at the top of the table come the end of the season, with Carrick’s experience likely to prove its worth as the campaign unfolds.

"I believe Michael Carrick can lead Boro into the play-offs at the end of the season.

"They have a good enough squad to compete in the Championship as there isn’t a stand-out team this year, so just have to see out games to get the three points and go on a nice unbeaten run to cement their place in the top six.

"With an experienced manager like Carrick, he has many Championship games under his belt now, but ultimately it’s the players on the pitch who must get the team over the line."

Middlesbrough thrive despite Jonny Howson blow

Howson has proven to have a massive influence on this Boro side during his time with the club, with the former Norwich City man featuring 300 times in league competition for the Teessiders over a seven-year stretch.

The 36-year-old has been out of action since early August though, with an injury against former side Leeds United seeing him unable to feature ahead of the current international break.

The experience of the midfielder has been missed at times and Parlour believes others in the squad need to learn from his absence.

He continued: “Anytime you lose an experienced player like Howson it can have an impact.

"With his experience, it does seem that on some occasions, he has been missed. However, it’s up to the XI on the pitch to be fully focused in the latter stages of matches.

"This period in the game is so crucial to be switched on and ensure you get the result you want at the final whistle. The Championship is so competitive and the important thing now is for the team to learn from the experiences so far this season.”