Middlesbrough have been handed a boost on the injury front ahead of their meeting with Sunderland.
Boro’s 2023/24 Championship campaign was derailed by injury issues, with Michael Carrick having an average of 6.5 players missing per match last term.
Carrick conducted an investigation into the injury crisis at Middlesbrough last year but stated at the time that he did not think there was a problem.
However, we are just five games into the 2024/25 season and those problems have once again returned in full force.
Middlesbrough were without a staggering 10 players for their 2-2 draw with Portsmouth last month.
The likes of Law McCabe and Riley McGree have since returned to the first-team fold but a number of key names remain out.
Carrick provided an injury update on Jonny Howson and Rav van den Berg last week, confirming they were set to miss the 1-1 draw with Preston North End.
In a major boost for Boro though, one long-term absentee has been spotted back in training ahead of Sunderland.
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Marcus Forss training ahead of Sunderland vs Middlesbrough
Marcus Forss is yet to make an appearance this season following an injury-hit 2023/24 campaign.
The 25-year-old suffered two separate long-term injuries last term, the second of which kept him out of Boro’s 2024 pre-season and their first five Championship fixtures of 2024/25.
With Saturday’s meeting a huge clash in terms of pride and the promotion race, Carrick will want as strong a squad as possible available to him.
And after such a lengthy hiatus, it appears as though Forss could potentially make his Middlesbrough return this weekend.
Boro’s official Instagram account recently shared some training pictures and Forss was spotted in one of them alongside summer addition, Neto Borges.
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Why Marcus Forss may struggle for minutes at Middlesbrough this season
Whether or not Forss returns versus Sunderland remains up in the air, with Carrick likely to provide an update on the player in his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
When he is eventually passed fit, the Boro boss will have a major decision to make on how he will use Forss this season.
The former Brentford man is a natural centre-forward but is unlikely to see too much game time ahead of Emmanuel Latte Lath and backup striker, Tommy Conway.
Forss has also played a number of games for Middlesbrough on the right wing, where he was previously just competing with Isaiah Jones.
Jones has struggled for Middlesbrough in recent weeks but it is unlikely to be Forss who replaces the out-of-form star in the eleven.
Boro signed Micah Hamilton from Manchester City and Ben Doak from Liverpool this summer, both of whom are best utilised on the right.
Doak made his Middlesbrough debut versus Preston on Saturday and showed enough from the bench to potentially replace Jones in the team this weekend, leaving little room for Forss when he does make his return.