King Charles will deliver his first Christmas speech later today after ascending to the throne earlier in the year.

As is traditional, the new King will be expected to reflect on the year just gone, while also looking ahead. It will be his first Christmas Day speech after succeeding his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, this year.

At Middlesbrough, just like in the British monarchy, a new era at the football club started when Chris Wilder’s reign ended in October and in came Michael Carrick to replace him. A really positive start has seen the Manchester United legend pick up four wins from his opening seven games to help Boro climb the Championship table.

READ MORE: Michael Carrick enjoying management at Middlesbrough ‘even more than he could have hoped for’

The hope for Carrick now is to continue pushing in the right direction and see where Boro can end up at the end of the current campaign. The goal for him ultimately is clear – to keep trying to improve, with an eye on gaining promotion to the Premier League.

Just like King Charles, as is traditional now, we asked Carrick for his Christmas message to Boro supporters in an alternative, Boro-related Christmas Day message.

Carrick said: “First and foremost, thank you so much for the support you’ve given us so far. It really has been incredible. Hopefully you can all enjoy the festive period and we can too as football comes thick and fast at this time of year. Being at home on Boxing Day is for us exciting and hopefully we can give everyone something to shout about and make Christmas a little bit more special.

“I’m really enjoying it here. I feel really comfortable. I’m really settled and it feels like we’re in a good place, without being satisfied. I’ve said it a lot, we’re not satisfied with what we’ve done so far. There are lots of good signs and we’re looking forward. It’s positive.

“We had the cluster of games then the break so we could get to know each other that bit better. I feel like I’ve been here a lot longer and we’re settled as players and staff. There are always reflections, things for us to learn and improve on, things we can do slightly better.

“We’ve not beat ourselves up too much after Burnley. We’re disappointed and frustrated but we’ll look to go again on Boxing Day. It’s always got that special feel about it, the tradition in the game and what it stands for. To have a full house at home, it’s a great game for all of us to sample that atmosphere and feed off it, use the energy.

“Football ultimately is to entertain and that’s why we’re here to entertain. We want everyone to enjoy coming to the game and then go home happy. We understand what it does and how it can affect people in a great way, so we hope we can do that.”