Carrick said his players were “out on their feet” at the end of the 0-0 draw with the Canaries but insisted his side haven’t run out of steam in the play-off race in recent weeks.
Boro have won just one of their last five games and slipped to ninth after their latest slip-up. They now need to beat Coventry on the final day and hope both Millwall and Blackburn – who leapfrogged them on Saturday – fail to win.
Boro were given a pre-match boost on Saturday when Coventry lost at Luton but Carrick said that wasn’t discussed in the dressing room prior to kick-off against Norwich.
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Boro struggled to hurt the Canaries, who headed for the Riverside bottom of the form table, and it was the visitors who had the better of the second half chances.
Carrick said: “We just couldn’t quite find that bit of spark or moment really. I can’t fault the boys for their effort – they’re out on their feet there at the end trying. We just couldn’t quite find that goal that we needed. We just needed one to drop for us or to find that one moment of quality to create something and put a chance away. When we needed it most, we just couldn’t quite find it today.”
When asked whether Boro had run out of steam over the course of recent weeks, Carrick said: “I don’t think so. I think it’s just the nature of the season and what’s left to play for.
“The boys put a lot into it today. There’s a lot of emotional energy and it can affect you in different ways. It just wasn’t to be today unfortunately.
“It’s just disappointment because we know what’s at stake. We wanted to the points and we didn’t get them. It’s pretty obvious now what needs to happen. We know where it’s at and we just have to go to Coventry trying to win the game.”
Boro would have climbed into the top six with a win after Luton scored a last gasp winner against Coventry in the early game.
But Carrick said that lunchtime result wasn’t part of his pre-match message.
He said: “It’s not something we spoke about in the dressing room. Our focus was on us.
“It’s never a case of this is our day because something has happened, it’s about what we do.
“It was in our hands, right now it’s not in our hands. We have to make it happen and today we couldn’t do that.”
Carrick says he hasn’t given up on Boro’s play-off hopes.
“There’s still been enough through the season to believe and trust the lads that they will find the right moment,” he said.
“We don’t win this game for different reasons. It’s not just an individual thing or an attacking thing. It’s a team thing.
“We all do things to try and create chances for each other. We’ve scored a lot of goals in general this season. Today, we couldn’t find one, but there’s next week. Who knows.”
