Middlesbrough are preparing to take on Stoke City in a Championship fixture on Saturday.
Middlesbrough are looking to get their campaign back on track when they face the Potters in a 3pm kick-off at the Riverside Stadium on September 27th.
Boro have already suffered two defeats in the league this season, while their upcoming opponents have lost on four occasions, leading to a change of manager.
Middlesbrough sit 12th in the Championship table going into the weekend, while Stoke are down in 17th place.
| Position | Team | PlayedMP | WonW | DrawnD | LostL | ForGF | AgainstGA | DiffGD | PointsPts |
| 10 |  DerbyDerby | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 9 |
| 11 |  NorwichNorwich | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| 12 |  MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| 13 |  Bristol CityBristol City | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 12 | -4 | 8 |
A tight affair is expected in the North East, but Middlesbrough are predicted to beat Stoke.
While not quite a must-win at this stage of the season, it would be a major blow for Boro’s promotion chances if they fail to secure three points on Saturday.
As a result, Michael Carrick will want as strong a squad as possible available to him for the game and has now provided a Middlesbrough injury update in his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
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Michael Carrick gives Rav van den Berg injury update
As was the case in 2023/24, the Teessiders have been plagued with injury issues for much of the current campaign.
One major problem area has been centre-back, with key man Rav van den Berg out of action since the defeat to Derby County.
Prior to taking on Sunderland last week, Carrick confirmed Van den Berg was closing in on a return to action for the Reds.
Now, speaking in his pre-Stoke press conference on Thursday afternoon via Boro’s YouTube channel, the Middlesbrough boss has provided a fresh update on the Dutchman.
He said: “Rav’s been in and around the group quite a bit. He’s pretty close to being in contention, which is great. Jonny’s a little bit behind him.”
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Rav van den Berg return will not help Middlesbrough
Having Van den Berg back up to full fitness will be a boost for Middlesbrough but it will not solve their biggest problem.
The Teessiders have already dropped points in four of their six Championship fixtures this season despite largely playing sides who, on paper, are much weaker than them.
This is because teams have figured out that as long as they do not push high up the pitch, Boro’s ability to score goals is limited.
This is evident by the fact Boro have the highest xG in the Championship this term but have scored just six goals.
A returning Van den Berg will do little to solve this issue, with Carrick instead needing to look toward fringe stars such as Ben Doak and Micah Hamilton if he wants to get his side firing on all cylinders.
Stoke have a fairly leaky defence and if Boro fail to score on Saturday, big questions will surely start to be asked of Carrick.