Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick was expecting his side to put up a strong performance against Chelsea, especially having won the first leg 1-0 at the Riverside Stadium.

It wasn’t to be for Boro, as Chelsea showed no mercy, beating them 4-0 at half-time and 6-1 at full-time.

Speaking after the game, Carrick admitted that they knew the tie was over at half-time.

He said: “We were realistic at half time. There was no shouting or screaming, it was a case of, ‘come on, what’s next?’.

“We wanted to make the most of it after coming this far. None of our lads have ever been involved in a semi final of this size in a major cup competition, so that in itself is massive.

“It’s a new experience for them, unchartered territory, and so a lot of the boys will be better for going through this experience. How they dealt with it, what they faced, what the challenges were and how they faced up to them. Once the dust settles and the disappointment wears off, that experience will be vital.

“I thought we started pretty well in the game actually, albeit maybe just a short time, maybe 10 minutes or so. We got punished straight away and then had a chance to go 1-1 from the corner, a decent chance for Morgan.

“It’s the type of things that went for us in the first leg, but over two legs, against a team that level above, it’s not easy to stay with them. In the end, they were just too strong for us.”