Michael Carrick is not concerned by Middlesbrough factor ahead of Sheffield United - he should be | OneFootball

The Boro boss isn't worried about his side's recent form heading into a big clash with the Blades - he should be.

Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick has insisted he's not concerned over his side's recent run of form following Monday's 3-2 Tees-Wear derby defeat to Sunderland.

Boro have now picked up just three wins from their last 12 Championship matches, dating back to a 1-1 draw with Burnley on 6 December.

Their most recent outing against the Black Cats was yet another game where Middlesbrough dropped points from a winning position, having taken an early lead through Delano Burgzorg, before a Ryan Giles own goal with minutes to play saw the Teessiders surrender a valuable point.

Frustration is building around the Riverside Stadium over performances and results in recent weeks, but the Boro boss isn't sharing their concern.

Speaking in a post-match interview via The Northern Echo following the defeat to Sunderland, Carrick insisted that he's not worried about Middlesbrough's recent displays.

He said: "You want to win games of football, there's no getting away from that. That's what we have to do if we're going to get to where we want to be. It (the form) is not a concern, no, but we definitely need to win games, there's no getting away from that."

When the need for Carrick to find the right balance between attack and defence was put to the Boro boss, he said: "Course we need to. We need to score more goals than we concede definitely, but to concede two like that and the second one at Preston, they're goals you can't plan for.

"They're moments. We need to deal with them better. We need to be a little bit tighter as a team."

Michael Carrick should be alarmed by Middlesbrough's recent spell of results heading into make or break point of the season

Self-inflicted wounds; it's been the tale of Middlesbrough's season so far.

Regardless of how sharp Boro are in attack, more often than not they seem to deal more damage to themselves than their opposition, and there's a growing number of Teessiders that are becoming fairly fed up with it.

The frustration among the Riverside faithful largely derives from the fact that they know their team is capable of putting in top quality performances at both ends of the pitch, with their 2-0 win over West Brom on 21 January being a perfect example.

Carrick's side took the lead after half an hour with a wonderful long-range effort from Hayden Hackney, they then repelled a Baggies onslaught for the opening 15-20 minutes of the second half, before a sublime curling effort from Ben Doak sealed the three points with seven minutes to play. It was a vintage display of scoring first, protecting a lead and putting a game to bed late on by those in red and white.

As such, a 5,000-strong army of Teessiders travelled down to Preston just days later full of confidence that their side could make it back-to-back wins. Instead, Boro threw away a point in comical fashion with just over 10 minutes to play, after hurling wave after wave of attacks at the North End goal for the majority of the second half.

Middlesbrough are inconsistent in their collecting of points, but are consistently gifting them away. That's simply not a recipe for success.

With anything but a top-six finish being unacceptable for the majority of Boro fans, Carrick's side now face a vital stretch of games. Sheffield United (A), Watford (H) and Bristol City (A) - three potentially season-defining fixtures await against a trio of promotion rivals.

First up is Sheffield United on 12 February, and former Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder has turned Bramall Lane into a fortress this season. They've lost just twice in 14 home fixtures so far this term, with the Blades only conceding eight goals in the process.

Therefore, the Boro boss may not be concerned about his team's form entering this make or break period of the season, but recent weeks would suggest that he probably should be.