Middlesbrough defender Matt Clarke got vital competitive minutes under his belt in a behind closed doors match for the Under 21 side.
Clarke-26-was finally shown competing in this season’s Middlesbrough shirt via a report on the club’s website.
The former Brighton defender has endured a long and frustrating road back to fitness, but is now looking to step up his recovery in a bid to gain some much-needed match fitness.
Reports last month showed that the defender was back in training with the first team squad after a lengthy spell out with back trouble. It comes at a time when the Boro defence faces intense scrutiny after five defeats in seven.
Timely boost
The 26-year-old played 45 first-half minutes for the Under 21 side in the match against Carlisle United at Rockliffe on Wednesday and is said to have come through the game unscathed.
It is not clear whether the game (behind closed doors) was set up specifically for the process of giving Clarke minutes or if there was other factors involved. Middlesbrough’s left-back position has been identified as one of the weaker areas of the team this season, meaning Clarke-who is a centre-back by trade-could offer the club a timely boost with his return.
Ryan Giles’ departure left Boro a sizeable void to fill at left-back this season, and the arrival of Lukas Engel has yet to ease that loss of quality. The arrival from Silkeborg had such a poor half against Sheffield Wednesday, that he was substituted at half time.
The club also purchased Alex Bangura-another left-back-before the transfer deadline, who showed some promise in his debut against Blackburn but was injured fro the trip to Hillsborough.
Fans who are desperate for an upturn in fortune will be pleased to see Clarke-who has won a number of player of the year awards-pull on a Boro shirt again. But that excitement will be tempered by the fact that he has not played since October, and pitching him straight back into a league as competitive as the Championship without due care, would be irresponsible.
It seems such a long time since the club welcomed Matt Clarke into the Boro set-up. He was the missing link in terms of the left-footed, left-sided centre-back that Wilder had searched for, with the former Boro boss of course preffering three at the back.
But current boss Michael Carrick has not been able to call upon his services since his arrival, proving just how lengthy his lay-off has been.
Defender gives Carrick options
If he were to stay fit, and continue his positive steps towards full fitness, it would be interesting to see whether Carrick would see him as a left-back alternative, or a left-sided centre-back. Would Lenihan be switched to the right in place of Fry to accommodate Clarke?
It is all if’s and but’s at the moment, and the player himself will be surely just concentrating on regaining his fitness and getting on the pitch as often as possible.
The fact that a defender who has not played in nearly a year has courted so much interest with his return, tells you that Middlesbrough are in a bad place defensively.
Middlesbrough’s next game will be at home to Southampton, and with no clean sheets so far and no win recorded, Clarke’s recovery may be much more noteworthy than we would have thought at the beginning of the campaign.