ANFERNEE DIJKSTEEL has returned to full training with Middlesbrough, but Ben Doak and Jonny Howson remain a number of weeks away from being back in action.
Dijksteel joined the rest of Boro’s first-team squad on the training pitch at Rockliffe Park this morning, and while he will not be considered for tomorrow night’s trip to Sheffield United, he could be available for the weekend home game with Watford.
Doak will not feature in either game, and while the winger’s thigh injury is not as bad as was initially feared, he will remain sidelined for at least another couple of weeks.
The same is true of Howson, who is recovering from a calf issue that has proved more problematic than was perhaps envisaged when it first occurred.
“Anf (Dijskteel) is back training with us,” said Boro head coach Michael Carrick, whose side dropped out of the play-off positions when they lost to Sunderland in their most recent outing. “It was his first real session today, so the game tomorrow is probably going to come too soon for him. But he was back training with the group for the first time, so that’s positive.
“Ben’s still got a few weeks to go. It’ll be a few more weeks until he’s back playing. He’s okay. It could have been a lot worse, and at one stage, it looked as if it might have been a lot worse in terms of the seriousness of the injury. Thankfully, it’s not, so we’re looking at a few weeks.
READ MORE:
“Jonny’s still going through his rehab too. We were hoping that he might have got back a little bit quicker at one stage, but that’s not really been the case. They can be funny things, calf injuries, and especially when you get to the stage he’s at in his career, it can be common for timeframes to shift. We’re going to be careful, but hopefully we can get him back pretty soon.”
Darragh Lenihan remains on Boro’s long-term injury list, but while the centre-half has not played all season, Carrick remains hopeful he could be involved before the end of the campaign.
“Darragh’s had a few ups and downs, unfortunately,” explained Carrick. “We’re hoping to have him back before the end of the season at some point, if we can.
“He’s been out for some time. It was an ankle injury to start with, then he had a bit of an issue with his Achilles and a couple of niggles, with him being out for so long.
“There’s not really a massive timeframe on it with him, we’ve got to be patient. He’s been incredibly patient himself and keeps working hard. He’s in and around us all the time, but it’s a difficult place to be. But we’re working for him to hopefully be back sometime before the end of the season.”
