Boro boss Michael Carrick played down any suggestion Aston Villa loanee Aaron Ramsey was on a revenge mission against Norwich City, after opening the scoring against his previous Championship loan club in a 5-1 hammering for the Canaries.

Ramsey notched his fifth in 11 appearances for Boro on Friday night, and appeared to take great delight taunting the travelling support in his celebrations, before he was forced off before half-time with an ankle injury.

Carrick admitted losing the youngster for any length of the promotion run in would be a blow.

“I just think he played his normal game, AJ, to be honest. He scored goals, he looked dangerous and he has been terrific in recent weeks,” said the Boro chief. “I was just pleased for him to score any goal.

"It was an important goal for us and he deserved it for his play for us over these recent weeks. Without a doubt.

“It is a blow for him as much as us if he is injured because I think he is in a good moment. Hopefully he is not in a bad way. It is his ankle but I have no more news at this stage.

“I was really pleased with a lot of things. I don’t think we were at our best but it was a terrific win. It was nice for the boys to create goals for each other, and share the load, and threats from different areas.

“I was particularly pleased how we reacted with AJ going off. What could have been a big blow, and is a big blow, because we have to see how he is, we adapted well. We played as a team and for each.

“The beauty of it was we’ve had a sticky patch, in terms of results, but the performances were no worse than this one. In this game we were clinical and ruthless. I said there was no panic, but it is easy for me to sit here and say it. The boys showed the confidence and belief.”

Ramsey’s Villa team mate, Cameron Archer, scored twice and served up two assists in the home rout.

“He had a spark about him. I sensed that in training the previous couple of days,” said Carrick. “Terrific for him to get his goals, because he lives off that, but is his all-round performance, his link play, his assists, showed what he is capable of.”