Six Middlesbrough players, including Seny Dieng, missed the club’s pre-season friendly over the weekend for a variety of reasons.
The 2024/25 Championship campaign is now under one month away for Middlesbrough.
Boro kick off their season with a meeting versus Swansea City at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday, August 10th.
Prior to that, Michael Carrick took his side to Portugal for a warm-weather training camp last week.
Boro’s official pre-season fixtures do not get underway until later this week but the club played one game while away.
The North East outfit faced Vitoria SC in a friendly on July 14th and lost 2-0 thanks to a brace from Jesus Ramirez.
Middlesbrough fielded two sides in the loss, with Carrick changing his full eleven at half-time to ensure plenty of players were given a chance to build fitness.
Why Seny Dieng and five more players missed Vitoria game
Despite 22 players making it onto the pitch on Saturday, there were still several notable names missing from the squad.
One of which was Seny Dieng, who ended 2023/24 in fine form and is expected to be Boro’s number one in 2024/25.
Middlesbrough fans should not worry too much about Dieng’s absence, however.
Teesside Live report Dieng and Sol Brynn were left out of the Middlesbrough team over the weekend simply because Carrick has five senior keepers to choose from at present.
Both Dieng and Brynn are expected to be handed minutes when the club’s proper pre-season games start later this week.
Elsewhere, Tommy Smith, Darragh Lenihan, and Marcus Forss all missed the match as they are still continuing individual programmes following injuries last season.
Another notable absentee from the squad and Portugal trip as a whole was Ajay Matthews. The academy prospect picked up a knock in training recently but should be back at Rockliffe Park this week.
Middlesbrough must avoid another injury crisis
Middlesbrough finished eighth in the Championship last term, four points outside the top six.
Part of the reason for this was the horrific injury crisis the club endured across the campaign.
Carrick was unable to field a full-strength team in any game during 2023/24, with an average of 6.5 players missing per match.
While a few stars are still working their way back to fitness, Boro now have a largely fit squad ahead of facing Swansea.
But if they want to boost their promotion chances in 2024/25, it is pivotal they keep the bulk of their top talent fit.