Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick has been presented with a difficult decision to make in defence ahead of the home clash with Ipswich after seeing his options depleted even further at the weekend.
The erratic 3-2 loss away to Leeds United had almost everything, goals, end-to-end action, mistakes, and a red card. Unfortunately for Boro, the end result of such chaos was another batch of injuries and suspensions that will surely see an extremely patched up side come Saturday.
Injury-hit Boro in crisis
To add to the long term absences of Darragh Lenihan and Tommy Smith, Boro lost Dael Fry and Hayden Hackney before the game against Preston and Paddy McNair during the encounter with Leeds. The defeat to Leeds also saw Boro’s Anfernee Dijksteel red carded for two bookable offences and Isaiah Jones receive his fifth yellow, meaning both miss the match with the second placed ‘The Tractor Boys’ on Saturday. It is something of a crisis at the back with Boro not having had a full compliment of defenders for quite some time.
Depending on the availability of Dael Fry, Boro could be left with just two centre-backs to choose from in Rav van den Berg and Matt Clarke, with Clarke having not started a competitive match for a over a year. Clarke’s rust was there for all to see against Leeds as he-understandably-struggled to get up to speed coming on as a substitute for Paddy McNair. Within a minute or so of coming on, he gave away a penalty as a Leeds forward wriggled past him in the box.
Utilising versatile midfielder could have domino effect
The fact that the right-back spot has been decimated with injuries and suspensions is compounding matters too. With Smith and Dijksteel now unavailable, van den Berg would have been the natural choice to deputise, but he is likely to be needed at the heart of defence, especially if Fry is still out. Isaiah Jones has also filled in on the right, more so late on in matches when Boro have been chasing the game, but even he is not able to be called upon. It means that captain Jonny Howson could feature at right-back, and whilst most fans would have no doubt about his capability, his absence would prompt a similar domino effect in central midfield with Hayden Hackney struggling with a knock.
A midfield without Hackney and Howson would be a huge blow for Boro, and although Dan Barlaser has played well when called upon this term, you would have to say, it would significantly weaken the side-definitely from a mobility point of view-to have Barlaser and one other (possibly Crooks) in that central midfield area.
The preparation is far from ideal as the Teesside outfit prepare to face one of the best and highest scoring teams in the division. However, Carrick’s players are giving everything at the moment, and their home form is very good. They will also know that Ipswich have won only one of their last five away from home. So the task is certainly not insurmountable.