Whittaker 'will be so important' for Boro

CARRICK BACKS STRUGGLING FORWARD

- By CRAIG JOHNS [e-mail] @craig_johns

MICHAEL Carrick has backed Morgan Whittaker to overcome his difficult Middlesbrough start and have some “big moments” for the club this season and beyond.

Whittaker arrived at Boro from Friday's opponents Plymouth Argyle in January in a £6m deal.

However, he is still waiting to score his first goal for the club and, in what has generally been a period of difficulty for Boro from an attacking perspective, he’s struggled to make the early impression on Teesside he would have wished for.

Despite that, he’s recently made a couple of promising cameos from the bench and that earned him his first start in six games at Millwall on Saturday.