Middlesbrough take on Plymouth Argyle in the Championship this weekend, and it could mark the return of an injured Boro man.
Middlesbrough welcome Plymouth Argyle to the Riverside tomorrow afternoon.
The Green Army make the long-haul trip from the south coast to take on Michael Carrick and his Middlesbrough side, who beat Leicester City 2-1 in their last outing.
Boro remain in 13th place of the Championship table and 10 points outside the top six. But they could enjoy a strong end to the season with Emmanuel Latte Lath closing in on a return to action.
Emmanuel Latte Lath closing in on Middlesbrough return
Journalist Craig Johns revealed on X yesterday that the 25-year-old Latte Lath could return to the Middlesbrough squad this weekend.
Carrick meanwhile told Teesside Live:
“Manu has been really unfortunate. I thought he started showing his top form just before he got injured the first time round, then he came back and felt something else quite quickly after that. It’s been a bit of a stop-start season for him, but we know what Manu can do.
“We’ll have to be a little bit patient with him this time around, in terms of getting him back up to speed, but hopefully he can have a big say between now and the end of the season, along with all the other boys. Hopefully, that can make that little bit of a difference for us.”
Latte Lath joined Middlesbrough on a permanent deal from Atalanta last summer, after scoring 14 goals in 31 league games for Swiss outfit St Gallen last time round.
For Boro, Latte Lath has five goals in 16 Championship outings, and seven goals in all competitions this season, having been sidelined since the 1-0 win vs Chelsea last month with a foot injury.
All signs pointing towards promotion push… next season
There’s been a lot of good signs for Middlesbrough this season.
Carrick has the team playing some very good and effective football and times and we perhaps saw the best of Boro in the last outing vs Leicester City.
But inconstencies, induvial errors and injuries have left Middlesbrough wanting this season, and looking forward to the next.
If Latte Lath can return in the final weeks of this campaign and score a few goals then he’ll set himself up nicely to be prolific next time round, with a scoring no.9 perhaps the biggest missing piece of the puzzle right now.
But Carrick won’t rush him back. Middlesbrough are all but out of the race for the top six now and so this season is about readying the shape and XI for next time round; of which Latte Lath will surely be a part.
Middlesbrough return to action at home to Plymouth tomorrow with kicks off at 3pm.