Michael Carrick admits that he hopes Emmanuel Latte Lath will not be out for an extended period after picking up a groin injury during Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Preston North End.

However, there was further bad news as the 43-year-old confirmed that Seny Dieng will be out for a period of time as the Middlesbrough shot-stopper begins his recovery from surgery on an Achilles injury.

Carrick failed to rule out that there could be further movement in the transfer window, after Ryan Giles, Morgan Whittaker and George Edmundson completed moves, with an addition between the sticks a possibility following Dieng's issue.

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Latte Lath was forced off after just 11 minutes at Deepdale after looking to capitalise on a defensive mistake from the Lilywhites back-line. Carrick couldn't comment on the severity of the issue, but also says he hopes it won't be a long-term problem.

"He felt his groin, how badly and to what extent, I don't know," said the Boro boss. "We'll have to wait and see, he felt his groin quite early on.

"That was a blow for us, but I thought we dealt with that well - moved on from it - still felt we should've won that game, it's a blow, we'll have to see how Manu - hopefully it's not too long."

The Boro manager hinted that Tommy Conway's return may be some time away with the 22-year-old yet to return to first-team training. He said: "We'll have to wait and see. He's close-ish, but he's been out for some time so that's a decision we'll make. He hasn't trained with us yet.

Tom Glover continued in goal for Boro, but there was a bleak update from Dieng on Friday night as he posted on Instagram from a hospital bed following surgery. Sol Brynn remains side-lined after dislocating his shoulder during the draw with Sheffield Wednesday at the end of December.

As a result, reinforcements in the goalkeeping department will be assessed, Carrick admitted: "We have Tom who has done well and we had Shea on the bench, so it's definitely something we need to look at."

With Latte Lath facing uncertainty around his future - and three arrivals at the Riverside Stadium this week - there could be another departure with deadline day on the horizon. The Boro boss revealed that Lukas Engel is Stateside as he closes in on a move to FC Cincinnati.

"Lukas is there at this moment, so that's looking like it will go through," he said.