Middlesbrough resume Championship action on Wednesday evening as they travel to play-off rivals Hull City on Wednesday evening.
Michael Carrick‘s side are still in the mix for a top-six finish, though, they’ll probably need to win each of their remaining five games.
Boro need to surmount a six-point gap on Norwich City, who occupy sixth place, so they can’t afford to drop any more points, realistically.
Ahead of their trip to Humberside, Boro News has previewed the clash and predicted Carrick’s starting line-up.
Middlesbrough injury news ahead of Hull City clash
Carrick named Hayden Hackney and Rav van den Berg on the bench against Swansea City on the weekend after their injury lay-offs.
Though, he admitted that neither were really ready to play.
“Big boost to have them back. They weren’t ready to really play, to be honest, but we wanted to have them there so that they were back in and around the group,” the Boro boss said.
“They haven’t had much training at all really. Hopefully they’ll come through the next few days all right and then we’ll make a call for Wednesday.”
Whilst the return of the aforementioned pair is clearly a huge lift for the Teeside outfit, they still have seven first-teamers sidelined through injury.
Alex Bangura, Dael Fry, Darragh Lenihan, Josh Coburn, Marcus Forss, Riley McGree and Tommy Smith are all still recovering on the treatment table, leaving Middlesbrough‘s squad pretty threadbare.
Middlesbrough predicted XI v Hull City
In net, Seny Dieng is expected to assume his usual spot with a back four in front of him consisting of Luke Ayling, Rav van den Berg, Matt Clarke and Luke Thomas. Jonny Howson has been filling in at centre-back but he could make way for the return of van den Berg.
Moving into midfield, Daniel Barlaser could drop out with the ‘terrific’ Hackney rejoining the side after missing the last few weeks due to injury.
Partnering the England under-21 international will be Lewis O’Brien, who was fantastic in the win over Swansea.
Isaiah Jones, Finn Azaz and Sam Greenwood could make up the three behind top scorer Emmanuel Latte Lath, who took his tally to 12 goals in all competitions on the weekend.
The 25-year-old forward is averaging a goal every 166 minutes, as per BBC Sport, which is certainly a commendable return.
Middlesbrough (4-2-3-1): Dieng; Ayling, van den Berg, Clarke, Thomas; Hackeny, O’Brien; Jones, Azaz, Greenwood; Latte Lath.