Michael Carrick has reaffirmed Middlesbrough’s commitment to keep Josh Coburn on loan at Bristol Rovers for the rest of the season admitting the talented young striker is in the best possible place for his development.
Coburn has flourished over the first half of the season with the Gas, scoring five goals in 15 games, in all competitions, and made a considerable impact at the top of Rovers attack, displaying a rare combination of raw physicality with genuine grace on the ball and finishing expertise.
His partnership with Aaron Collins is blossoming with the potential for further improvement down the second half of the season, and with John Marquis and Ryan Loft also in the equation gives Rovers a number of possibilities in attack.
There had been some consideration that Championship Middlesbrough might seek to activate their recall option in January to aid their own season, but head of football Kieran Scott confirmed last week that won’t happen as it could be detrimental to his progress. Carrick has further echoed that view with everyone at the Riverside delighted with the 20-year-old’s performances, but is also not setting future expectations too high.
"I think that's the best place for him to stay and enjoy his football that he has been doing all season and keep improving,” Carrick told Gazette Live. “Experience is huge as a younger player. It's great to see him getting a lot of experience. It will help in the long run. When something isn't broken, don't try to fix it and certainly in the short-term for Josh it's the right place for him.
"You have to be careful not to get carried away with young players. I'm not speaking about Josh individually, but with any young player you have to be very careful of too much too early and getting carried away and we've certainly done that.
"We have young players here. We've had Hayden (Hackney, midfielder) who's played a few games for us and done really well but who's to say what happens next? That's the challenge for all young players, to be in the right frame of mind at all times. All sorts of things come into play, so I'm not getting carried away by any stretch. I love to see young boys coming in and getting their chance and doing well but I'm quite calm about what's next."
Middlesbrough have been maintaining regular checks on their asset and are in constant dialogue with Rovers and Coburn, but Carrick is yet to speak to the striker personally since taking over at the Riverside in October
"I didn't want to get too involved personally,” he added. “His head is in a good place and he's performing. He has a role and responsibility and he's doing really well, so I didn't want to interfere too much."
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