Michael Carrick delivered an injury update for Middlesbrough.
Lewis O’Brien may be out for a while, according to Michael Carrick, who revealed the loan midfielder is visiting a specialist to establish the next course of action.
The Middlesbrough manager was concerned when the Nottingham Forest loanee suffered an ankle injury in Saturday’s triumph against Watford. O’Brien appeared to be in considerable pain following a seemingly minor challenge and was unable to continue playing.
As a result, he was unable to participate in Boro’s 2-0 triumph over Cardiff City on Tuesday evening. Carrick was unable to provide a specific timeframe after scan results showed an issue that Boro wants a professional opinion on, and may potentially require surgery.
“He won’t be back in action anytime soon,” Boro’s head coach remarked of the midfielder. It will take several weeks, if not months. He’ll be seeing specialists, as is typical with this type of injury. We don’t yet know, but we’ll keep you posted.”
O’Brien’s absence was expected for Tuesday’s victory, but Boro also played without Rav van den Berg and Jonny Howson. Darragh Lenihan, who missed the weekend due to sickness, was only fit enough to sit on the bench, while Matt Crooks was also relegated to the bench.
“Rav was missing, he’s been carrying a hamstring neuro problem for a few games now, so we’ll have to wait and see how he is,” Carrick added. Jonny and Darragh have both been sick. Crooksy has had a few niggles and put in a lot of effort in the last few weeks, so it’s all about managing the team.
“Sam [Greenwood] has done exceptionally well and looked sharp, so I was eager to get Sam onto the pitch and have him play.” It’s about managing the squad; we’re going to need everyone, whether it’s Saturday or whenever, so there’s a balance to strike in terms of keeping the boys fresh, and I think we got that about right tonight.”
Boro had more good news on the injury front, as Anfernee Dijksteel and Alex Bangura both returned to the team after ankle and hamstring ailments, respectively. Dijksteel’s return came after 45 minutes for the under-21s the previous week, while Bangura’s came as a surprise as he came on for stoppage time as well.
Leave a Reply