Naturally, Middlesbrough will be happy about their fantastic Carabao Cup run that saw them go to the semi-finals, but it wasn’t without a price. Michael Carrick acknowledged that the team was “decimated” when additional players went down with injuries.
The Boro manager is facing a dilemma that doesn’t seem to be going away, and the players who are healthy aren’t showing signs of wear and strain from playing so much football. Carrick was already dealing with nine confirmed absences from the game, but five more injury concerns were added to his list of issues.
That increased to five minutes before kickoff because Rav van den Berg’s bad back prevented him from traveling. Then, at halftime at Vale Park, Emmanuel Latte Lath left the game after feeling his hamstring. Isaiah Jones, who didn’t start the game because of a hamstring injury, took his position and played just 20 minutes before being removed from the game.
Subsequently, to somewhat taint an otherwise remarkable night for the team as they advanced to the Carabao Cup semifinal for the first time since winning it two decades prior, Matt Crooks felt a hamstring strain and was substituted shortly after, and Morgan Rogers was knocked out as well.
“The squad is decimated and we have more niggles tonight, but it’s all part of the journey,” Carrick stated following the game. After taking an elbow to his back over the weekend, Rav was a little bit stiff. We’ll have to try to bring him back in time for Saturday.
“And Rogers and Crooksy. They are therefore adding up. We’ve been discussing that for a few weeks now; we’ve managed to find a way, but we’ll still need to keep looking.”
Even though Boro defeated Port Vale and advanced in the cup with a great win and a highly professional performance, they now have 14 players out with injuries or at least doubts for their Saturday matchup with West Brom.
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