Middlesbrough may face a repeat of their disastrous 2023/24 season if Michael Carrick does not act before the close of the transfer window.
Michael Carrick enjoyed a fruitful debut campaign at the Riverside Stadium following his switch from Manchester United.
The former midfielder guided Middlesbrough to a fourth-place finish in the Championship during the 2022/23 season.
The Teessiders went on to lose to Coventry City in the play-off finals but it was a positive season nonetheless and big things were expected of Boro in 2023/24.
However, Middlesbrough did not make the play-offs last term, finishing four points outside the top six.
Part of the reason for this was their constant injury issues. Carrick was without an average of 6.5 players for every match last season.
Middlesbrough’s promotion chances going into 2024/25 were still quite high, though. But an update ahead of their meeting with Derby County could change that.
Middlesbrough injury list is mounting again
Boro are two games into the new season and things have gone pretty well so far.
Middlesbrough beat Swansea City 1-0 at the Riverside on the opening weekend of the league campaign.
The Reds were back in action on Wednesday and several Middlesbrough players impressed versus Leeds as Carrick watched his side pick up a huge 3-0 win.
Now though, with a meeting against Paul Warne’s Derby County just around the corner, the North East outfit are already in danger of having another disastrous campaign marred by injury.
Journalist Dominic Shaw provided an injury update on Carrick’s squad ahead of their game on Saturday and it is not looking good.
All of Jonny Howson, Dael Fry, Daragah Lenihan, Sonny Finch, and Law McCabe are expected to miss the match.
Alex Bangura, Marcus Forss, and Tommy Smith are long-term absentees as well, taking Middlesbrough’s injury list total up to eight, despite the season only just starting.
Michael Carrick must act quickly to solve injury crisis
The main area being impacted by Middlesbrough’s injury crisis this month is centre-back.
With Leninhan and Fry having been sidelined since last season, Howson filled in at the back against Leeds in midweek.
But as he too is now on the injury list, Boro only have two senior central defenders fit ahead of Derby.
This is a major concern, especially for a Championship club that normally plays two games a week.
Matt Clarke and Rav van den Berg are both quality options but they simply cannot play every game this season.
So, with Howson now 36 and Leninhan’s injury record pretty awful, Carrick must sign another centre-back before the window shuts in two weeks’ time.
Should Middlesbrough fail to bring in defensive reinforcements, their chances of securing a return to the Premier League may take a major hit.