Michael Carrick believes he "learned a lot from Sir Alex Ferguson in terms of chasing success" - as his Middlesbrough side march on.
Carrick, 41, was appointed by Middlesbrough in October and has since turned their fortunes around. They were 21st in the table when he arrived at the Riverside but are now fourth and will be confident of achieving promotion to the Premier League.
Carrick has won eight of his 12 games in charge of Middlesbrough and critics are beginning to wonder how the Manchester United legend has been so successful in his first managerial job. When asked, Carrick highlighted Ferguson's crucial influence.
Carrick, who enjoyed a three-game caretaker spell in charge of Man Utd before Ralf Rangnick took over in 2021, worked under Ferguson at Old Trafford between 2006 and 2013. "You can’t get carried away in the Championship," Carrick told Sky Bet.
"I learned a lot from Sir Alex Ferguson in terms of chasing success and how he did it, and you can’t think about the end game too much. It’s wasting time and energy, we can only control what we can, and that’s hopefully three points on the weekend. Don’t think about the end of the story while the story is going on."
Middlesbrough are 12 points behind Sheffield United in second and three ahead of Norwich in seventh. Although achieving automatic promotion is not impossible, it will take something special to catch the Blades and leaders Burnley with 19 fixtures remaining.
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The play-offs are Middlesbrough's most realistic route to the Premier League, but even that will be difficult. There are just 11 points separating Watford in third and Birmingham City in 20th, which leaves a number of teams targeting a play-off spot.
The challenge for Carrick is ensuring his players maintain their good form between now and May to ensure they achieve a top-six finish. Their next Championship fixture is a trip to local rivals Sunderland, who are also chasing a play-off spot, on Sunday afternoon.
Carrick added: "The target is to be as good as we can be. Every team in this league wants to get promoted, every team not in the Premier League wants to get into the Premier League - that’s obvious for us as a club, me as an individual, and the players.
"You can’t chase it too much; you must put things in place and build to get there. It’s a mindset, a case of focusing on what we can control to get there, and in the end however good we are week to week will give us the answer. If we’re up, fantastic. If we’re not, why not? Can we improve? We’ll take that step as we get there."
Carrick admits he's looking forward to the Sunderland match. He said: "Middlesbrough vs Sunderland is a terrific game. I love the rivalry and the competition within this area of the country, the passion is fantastic, and it’s my first derby as a manager.
"We’re close in the league table, and for everyone around it, it’s a big game. They’re playing well, we’re playing well, I’m hugely looking forward to it. I’ve had mixed experiences over the years going to Sunderland, and hopefully this will be one of the better ones."
