‘We knew what we were in for’: Middlesbrough boss on Fortress Fratton fear factor as big spenders fall in Portsmouth bearpit
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And the Middlesbrough boss aired his frustration at the play-off chasers losing a foothold in their eventual 2-1 Championship defeat, as John Mousinho’s side were carried over the line by their supporters in their second-half fightback.
The Blues came from behind to make it five wins out of six at PO4 and 16 points from a possible 18, as they cemented their position as the division’s form team at home with Leeds United.
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Hide AdCarrick told how handling the intensity of Fratton Park’s atmosphere was a big focus for his team and the former Manchester United felt they handled those conditions well. That’s until Gosport boy Matt Ritchie lifted the roof off the grand, old girl with his two second-half strikes.
Carrick told Middlesbrough’s official site: ‘We dealt with a tough place to come and so felt we dealt with that pretty well. It was 50-odd minutes and we were in a good place, but it’s the type of place where there’s always a moment there’s always something that can change the game. We spoke about that quite heavily at half-time.
‘The first goal is an awful goal to concede and the game from that point was a little bit different, then the deflection puts us in a place where we’ve been lately where we’re putting ourselves in good positions and getting nowhere near enough from it.
‘They’ve scored a lot of goals here and been on a good run - it’s a tough place to come. We knew what we were in for, we expected it and dealt with it to a point - and then let the game go away from us.’
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Hide AdThe Pompey defeat makes it one league win in six for Boro, with high demands for their expensively assembled squad to succeed in the Championship this season. Carrick acknowledged their current form can’t continue.

Big spender’s struggles
He told Gazette Live: ‘We let the game get away from us again, and it’s something we’ve let happen far too much recently. I thought coming here, how they make it and how it feels, I thought the lads dealt with it well in the first half and start of the second.
‘We had chances to go 2-0 up that we didn’t quite take. The game is always on a knife-edge at that point and we spoke about that at half-time. Concentration is important because one moment can flip it. That’s a big part of coming here.
‘Their first goal was such a big moment and we’ve gone from quite a comfortable situation in many respects to the game completely changing after that. So, very mixed reflections after that, but hurting a lot and disappointed to come away with nothing after the position we put ourselves in.
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Hide Ad‘Little things here and there let us down. We were in a good position and a second goal would have been important. We weren’t totally happy with the position because we knew one moment could have a massive impact. We needed that second goal but we didn’t take it, they took their chances and after that it was a lot more different.
‘We’re in games and putting ourselves in good positions in games, but we’ve maybe got to manage games better and maybe deal with little setbacks better. There’s no getting away from that.’
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