Carrick addresses Middlesbrough and Coventry City penalty shootout prospect

Michael Carrick is refusing to be drawn on whether Middlesbrough have practised taking penalties ahead of their play-off semi-final second leg with Coventry City.

Boro host the Sky Blues at The Riverside on Wednesday evening with the tie finely poised after a first leg 0-0 draw at the CBS Arena.

Tomorrow’s match will be the third successive match between the two teams, with the first two both ending all square.

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However, there has to be a winner at some point in the third encounter, with a place at Wembley for the play-off final at stake. Away goals aren't considered in the Championship play-offs, and if the two sides cannot be separated after another 90 minutes, another half an hour of extra time will be required. If there is still no winner then the tie will be decided via a penalty shoot-out.

Asked if Boro would do any practising of penalty kicks, Carrick told TeessideLive : “You just never know. Of course, the two games so far have proven it’s tight and the two defences have probably been on top. They defend very well and don’t give a lot of space away, especially around the edge of the box.

"We’ve got to find a way to overcome that because defensively we’ve been good as a team. But we know they’ve got threats that, like we have, at any given time can turn a game. It’s one of them where you can’t plan ahead for what type of game it will be but we always expect the unexpected anyway and we’ll be ready for that. One goal, either way, might open it up, but who knows?

“A lot of things can and can't go your way, could end up this or that, but we'll be ready for whatever is thrown at us. I'm not getting caught up in the shootout scenario. If it comes it comes, but it's almost irrelevant at this stage. We have a game to play so we'll look forward to that."
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