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Double injury setback for Middlesbrough in win over Millwall
LUKE AYLING suffered a double injury setback in Middlesbrough’s 1-0 win over Millwall yesterday.
The full-back was forced off the field during the first half at the Riverside after suffering a cut on his foot that required stitches.
A brief spell of treatment in the dressing room enabled him to return to the field, but shortly after reemerging from the tunnel, Ayling was heading back down it after an unfortunate incident involving Ben Doak.
Doak’s follow-through as he kicked the ball ended with him making contact with Ayling’s knee, resulting in an injury that the right-back was unable to shake off.
Ayling will be fully assessed in the next 24 hours, but is a doubt for next weekend’s trip to Plymouth Argyle.
“It was Luke’s knee in the end that forced him off, and it was actually because of a contact from Ben,” said Boro boss Michael Carrick. “He came off originally because he cut his foot, and he went and got two or three stitches in his foot.
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“He came back on, but then when he came back on, it was his knee that was the problem. It was the impact (from Doak) that did the damage, so we’ll have to see how he goes.”
While Ayling’s injury was a major disappointment, Boro were boosted by the return of centre-half Rav van den Berg.
The Dutch defender missed almost two months after suffering a knee injury, but impressed as his return coincided with Boro’s first clean sheet since mid-October.
“It was good to have Rav back,” said Carrick. “We made five changes altogether, and it’s important for everyone that we have the squad that means we’re able to do that.
“It’s good moving forward, through the season, that we can do that and mix things up, and freshen things up when we need to. We can do that, and still get the right results and level of performance.
“I thought Rav came through the game really well, and that was a real positive. It was disappointing to lose Luke, though, and we’ll have to see how he is.”
