Middlesbrough suffer Aidan Morris injury blow while Hayden Hackney is assessed ahead of Oxford

Aidan Morris is facing a number of weeks out with a knee injury suffered while in training with the USA, in what is a big blow for Middlesbrough after his excellent start at the club.

Morris joined from Columbus Crew in the summer and quickly established himself as a key player in Michael Carrick's side with a string of impressive displays in Boro's midfield. However, travelling back to the United States last week for international duty, the 23-year-old was forced to miss both games for his country after suffering a knee injury that is going to keep him out for a good few weeks.

Morris is yet to be fully assessed by Boro's medical staff, having been allowed to remain Stateside until next week, where he is receiving treatment from national team medics. His absence could also be compounded by Hayden Hackney potentially missing Boro's return to action at Oxford United this weekend as well.

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The Teessider, who has benefited from Morris' arrival this season, was forced to withdraw from England Under-21 duty last week with an ankle injury and is a doubt for Saturday's clash at the Kassam Stadium.

Offering an update in his pre-match press conference, Carrick said: “H had an ankle issue and we’re still assessing him. He’s not long been back, so we’ll see how that goes. Aidan Morris, meanwhile, twisted his knee last week and he’s going to out for a number of weeks.

"He’s not back with us until Monday because he’s getting some extra treatment over there and it allows him to take a deep breath really. He’s back here Monday, but he’ll be out for a little bit longer. Other than that, pretty much everyone has come back in good shape.”

Morris's period of absence will be a blow to Boro, with the USA international wasting no time to establish himself as a rising star in the Championship. That said, having started his current season back in March in the MLS, there was always an expectation at Boro that he would have to have a bit of a break at some point.

With Dan Barlaser pushing for extra game-time and captain Jonny Howson now back from injury as other young midfield starlets such as Law McCabe, Fin Cartwright and Luke Woolston spent the international break training with the first-team, Carrick feels well-equipped despite the obvious disappointment.

“It’s a blow," the Boro boss said. "It’s disappointing, but it’s part of the game ultimately. Hopefully he won’t be too long. At some point we were looking to give him a break anyway, so if anything, this may be the break he needed, albeit unfortunate in the way that it’s come about.

"He’ll come strong and fit and fresh and hopefully it won’t be too long, but definitely it’s not the way we wanted it to happen, but that’s part of football. We don’t want injuries and we do everything we can to prevent them. Some you can’t, though - a twist or a tackle, that’s one of the things that’s unfortunate and happens in the game.

"But we have the squad and that’s why we’ve tried to assemble that to get us through the whole season. There are going to be times when players stay fit and play a good batch, but also times when that changes. That’s why we’ve got the quality and we feel we have players who can step in and do fantastic as well."