Dael Fry has had his fair share of injury issues for Middlesbrough in the last year.
The centre-back is a local man who has spent his entire career to date with the North East outfit.
Dael Fry is one of Middlesbrough’s best academy graduates, making senior 241 appearances for the club.
Fry was brought into the Middlesbrough first-team squad after the sale of fellow centre-back Ben Gibson to Burnley.
Since then, the 26-year-old has been one of Boro’s most consistent performers during a period of struggle for the club.
Fry began the previous season as a regular starter under Michael Carrick, making 28 Championship appearances.
However, his 2023/24 campaign was derailed by injury, missing the final 16 game weeks of the season.
Fry is now at risk of losing his place at Middlesbrough, owing to the displays of two other centre-backs.
Rav van den Berg and Matt Clarke formed a superb partnership when Fry was out, helping the Teessiders lose just one of their final 12 outings last term.
Michael Carrick offers Dael Fry injury update
The 26-year-old was expected to begin fighting to secure a place back in the eleven during the 2024 pre-season.
However, Fry missed out versus Doncaster Rovers this past weekend as Boro ran out 5-3 winners.
Middlesbrough then faced Harrogate Town on Wednesday and the Englishman was once again absent.
Carrick provided an update on Fry’s injury situation post-match, as per the Northern Echo.
The Boro boss confirmed the stopper had a bit of a niggle and is still being eased back into the team after being out for so long.
He said: “He (Fry) just picked up a bit of a niggle. He’s around, he’s training with us, so he’s fit.
“But he’s been out a long time, since January really, and he missed a lot of last season.
“So, it’s similar to Darragh (Lenihan) really. We’re managing them. We’re managing their minutes as well as their training load.
“Dael just missed a couple of days of training. It’s nothing major at all.”
Middlesbrough at risk of repeating 2024/25 problem
Middlesbrough finished eighth in the Championship last term, four points outside of the play-offs.
Part of the reason for this was the fact Boro had so many injury issues across the entire campaign.
Carrick never had a full-fit squad available to him for any league game last season, with an average of 6.5 players missing.
Middlesbrough’s injury woes on the hole have largely subsided heading into 2024/25 but centre-back remains a problem area.
With Fry and Darragh Lenihan still yet to fully recover, the Reds are very short of options at the back.
Middlesbrough may need to sign a centre-back in the remainder of the current window to ensure they avoid the same problem they had last year.
Clarke and Van den Berg are the club’s only fit senior centre-back options right now, which is concerning given the Championship season is just over one week away.