Illness sweeps the Middlesbrough squad ahead of Blackburn Rovers as Carrick offers injury update

Michael Carrick will be left making late calls on a number of Middlesbrough players ahead of Blackburn Rovers' visit on Wednesday evening, with an illness sweeping through the squad.

On top of illness in the group, which recently forced Neto Borges and Seny Dieng to miss games and is now afflicting a few more in the group, Boro also have a couple of injury doubts in Hayden Hackney and Ben Doak. With Blackburn visiting on Wednesday, Boro will leave it as late as possible to make decisions on who is fit to start and who isn't, with an early kick-off on Saturday against Hull City to factor in also.

In shades of the controversial 1996 clash with Blackburn that was postponed due to a virus that meant Boro decided not to travel before being controversially docked points that ultimately resulted in relegation from the Premier League, Carrick could be forced into changes if the picture does not improve. That will be a blow given the immense form Boro are in of late.

READ MORE: West Ham scout at Oxford United 'watching' Middlesbrough star ahead of January transfer window

READ MORE: Middlesbrough's 'at last' moment leaves them well poised providing they improve one thing

Not giving away any names, the Boro boss said: “There’s a bit of an illness going through the squad at the moment. Seny’s had it and now two or three of the other players have had it over the last couple of days so we’ll assess things closer to the game. We’ll be ready, whatever is thrown at us. We’ll be ready."

Also to be assessed are Hackney and Doak, who both have ankle problems. Hackney missed Saturday's victory at Oxford United with an ankle injury that also kept him out of England U21 duty during the international break. Carrick described him after the game as being 'close-ish' to making the Oxford trip.

Doak, meanwhile, won the penalty that got Boro back into the game at the Kassam Stadium, but at the expense of taking a huge whack to the ankle. He played on until the hour mark before Marcus Forss made his welcome return to action, with Boro now hoping the Liverpool loan star's ankle pain in the aftermath calms down.

“At the moment, everyone who came through the game seems to be okay," Carrick said. "Ben [Doak] took a big tackle on his ankle so we’ll have to wait and see how he is. He is doing all right. He’s pretty positive, actually. We’ve got a couple of days left until the game so we’ll see how he goes, but he’s doing all right."

Rav van den Berg and Lukas Engel have been back doing some training after recent injuries but are unlikely to be ready to return to the squad yet. Aidan Morris is also out having picked up a knee injury while in the USA on international duty.

Offering an update on the midfielder, whose not yet back on Teesside, Carrick explained: “Aidan is due back this week. It was going to be today but he’s back this week. There’s no setback or anything, but he’s still going to be a few weeks away [from returning to action].

"It hasn’t affected him and it’s been a good chance for him to take a deep breath, have some treatment, but also have a rest from here and spend some time at home, which is nice for him. He’s fine and desperate to get fit again, as you would expect.”