Middlesbrough pre-season injury boost with 'fresh start' hunger for returning players
Michael Carrick says Middlesbrough can benefit massively early next season from the hunger that many of their recently injured players will have on their returns.
Boro suffered terribly from injuries this season but are now hoping that an extended summer break can offer a fresh start as players take well-earned holiday time before returning for the start of pre-season. It will then be all systems go again, as Carrick targets a challenge for promotion next season.
Avoiding as many injuries next term will ultimately prove a crucial factor in bettering this season's eighth-place finish, while they could really do with avoiding the kind of poor starts that have plagued their last three campaigns. While Boro will naturally welcome new faces to their squad this summer, those that didn't play much in the second half of the season will potentially feel like the cliched new signings, with Carrick assured of their desperation to get back and make an impact.
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Looking ahead, Carrick said: "Unfortunately we've had a number of players who have ended up missing quite a bit of football since Christmas time. Dael [Fry], Josh [Coburn], Alex [Bangura], Hayden [Hackney, then the other boys (Riley McGree, Marcus Forss, Darragh Lenihan, Tommy Smith).
"There's a group who will be desperate to be ready for pre-season and a fresh start and looking forward to playing a lot of football again. It will be great to have them back, to get them back around the group. It seems far off at the moment but certainly those boys it's a big motivation to get back fit. They've missed a lot of football, we'll get them back certainly for pre-season."
Many of Boro's injured players were already starting to return to fitness as the season came to an end. Bangura made a couple of cameo appearances from the bench and scored on the final day against Watford. Coburn made the bench in that game, while Carrick confirmed he could have pushed Hackney to do similar, but saw no reason to take the risk given there was nothing to play for.
Fry, Forss and Lenihan weren't believed to be too far off either. The situation was little less clearer for McGree and Smith, however. While both are hoping to be ready for the start of pre-season or as close to, in the case of Smith it's such a long-term injury and so no exact return date is being set as they ease him back in as and when he feels ready.
McGree, meanwhile, underwent surgery in March and was allowed to take his holiday leave early as a result. It remains to be seen how quickly he will recuperate, though it is expected to be well before the new season kicks off. The bigger issue with the Aussie star will be his contract situation, with just 12 months remaining on his current deal. Boro will want him to sign a new one this summer to offer them protection against potentially losing him on a free next summer.