Michael Carrick will need to look to the fringes of his Middlesbrough squad as we head toward a busy period.
Between now and the November international break, Middlesbrough have six games in the space of three weeks.
Their next Championship fixture sees them face off with Bristol City at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday, October 19th.
There are then some tough meetings on the horizon against an unbeaten Sheffield United and Norwich City.
At present, Boro are on a mixed run of form that sees them sitting ninth in the Championship table going into the weekend’s action.
Middlesbrough lost 2-1 to Watford in their last outing and need to get back to winning ways against Bristol to keep their promotion push going.
But with the Teessiders already suffering an injury crisis this term, Michael Carrick should now look to some of his fringe first-team players in the coming weeks to ensure his squad stays at full strength.
With this in mind, Boro News have taken a look at three players the Middlesbrough manager should hand more opportunities to once club football returns at the weekend.
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Anfernee Dijksteel
Anfernee Dijksteel began the 2024/25 season as the back-up right-back to Luke Ayling.
However, with an injury crisis at centre-back, Ayling was moved into an unnatural centre-back role and Dijksteel was handed a run at right-back.
Dijksteel was dubbed ‘really dangerous’ by Carrick when Boro beat Leeds United 3-0 in the first round of the Carabao Cup and looked sharp in his following few appearances.
The 27-year-old has since been dropped by the Boro boss now Rav van den Berg has returned to fitness but with Ayling 33 and unlikely to be able to play two games a week on a regular basis, Dijksteel deserves another chance to prove he can be a regular starter at right-back.
George McCormick
Lukas Engel has been in dismal form for Middlesbrough during the first few months of 2024/25.
Summer addition Neto Borges was ‘exposed’ in the 1-0 defeat to Sunderland last month as well, leaving Carrick with little quality at left-back.
As a result, he should now give George McComrick a proper chance in the first-team after he made his Championship debut in the 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.
The 19-year-old shone in pre-season and would offer more defensive solidity on the left of Middlesbrough’s back-four.
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Law McCabe
Middlesbrough’s midfield has looked pretty strong for most of this season thanks to the excellent displays of Hayden Hackney and Aidan Morris.
But with Boro now facing a hectic schedule, Carrick will need to rest the duo at some point in the near future.
Dan Barlaser is the current backup option but he has failed to impress during his time on Teesside.
In turn, Carrick should finally start to offer Law McCabe more of a prominent role in the senior team.
The 18-year-old has only made five senior appearances since his debut in 2023/24 but has already shown enough to highlight his massive potential.