Michael Carrick praised his Middlesbrough side’s control as they ran out 3-2 winners over 10-man Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup first round.
Kian Harratt gave Huddersfield an early lead but they had Jaheim Headley sent off in the 13th minute.
And Boro took full advantage with goals from Samuel Silvera, Isiah Jones and Riley McGree before Kyle Hudlin’s late consolation.
Carrick said: “I was happy with the game. It was a little bit of a test going behind and it was interesting to see how the boys coped with the setback. I’ve got to take responsibility for the first goal.
“As the game went on we took control and made the extra man count. We looked dangerous and had a good balance in the performance. All in all, there were a number of things that made it a good night.”
Carrick rallied behind 19-year-old Rav van den Berg, whose mistake led to the opener for Huddersfield.
The former Manchester United and England midfielder said: “We’ve asked them to play out from the back, we’ve had a lot of success playing that way so far. We’ve got no problems conceding that way and I was really happy with the reaction.”
Town manager Neil Warnock had no complaints about the red card and drew the positives from his side’s performance.
“Nobody let me down tonight,” he said.
“There were a lot of plusses. The crowd was very good. All the way through the lads gave me everything.
“It would have been a very interesting game with 11 men because I felt we could get at them a little more tonight.
“Jordan Rhodes did a super job moving into midfield and it was nice for the big man Kyle Hudlin to score at the end too.
“Everyone feels we’re going to be underdogs this season. I want us to try and enjoy games now. They’ve enjoyed working hard tonight and for that, you can forgive them.”
