Middlesbrough continue their 2024 pre-season campaign this week with a meeting versus Gateshead.
Boro kicked off their official pre-season schedule on Saturday, July 20th, taking on Bolton Wanderers.
Michael Carrick fielded two different elevens across the 90 minutes as Middlesbrough ran out 3-0 winners.
Emmanuel Latte Lath, Sonny Finch, and summer signing Delano Burgzorg got on the scoresheet for the Teessiders over the weekend.
Boro’s preparation for the 2024/25 Championship season continues on July 24th when they travel to the Gateshead International Stadium for a 7:30pm BST fixture versus Gateshead.
Middlesbrough team news
Middlesbrough had countless stars missing due to injury across the previous season and still have a few absentees going into 2024/25.
Marcus Forss, Tommy Smith, and Darragh Lenihan were all absent for the 3-0 victory over Bolton last week.
Carrick has since confirmed that the former two of that trio are expected to miss Middlesbrough’s Championship opener vs Swansea City on August 10th.
However, in a boost for the North East outfit, Leninhan has been back in training for the last few weeks and Carrick hopes to get him involved in games soon.
Alex Bangura also missed Middlesbrough’s first pre-season game due to injury and the recent birth of his child.
How will Middlesbrough line up vs Gateshead
With Boro’s Championship opener versus Swansea still two and a half weeks away, Carrick still has plenty of time to assess his first-team squad.
Forss’ absence means there is an opportunity for academy star Sonny Finch to earn a place in the eleven after he played on the right wing against Bolton and scored.
Leninhan could come into the starting line-up for his first taste of action since his season-ending injury in 2023/24.
Bangura’s injury issue also means Lukas Engel is all but guaranteed to start at left-back on Wednesday.
Further forward, Carrick is experimenting on the left wing, with summer addition Burgzorg likely to start in place of Riley McGree after scoring at the weekend.
Here’s how we think Middlesbrough will line up against Gateshead on Wednesday…
Hemming (GK)
Ayling
Van den Berg
Leninhan
Engel
Howson
Morris
Finch
Azaz
Burgzorg
Latte Lath