Cardiff City v Middlesbrough: Boro's injury trouble assessment 'ongoing' as post-mortem makes early start

Two games remain for Michael Carrick’s side and that will be that. No play-offs, no late drama, merely an end to what has been a trying campaign.

Having found their groove under Carrick and marched into last season’s play-offs, Middlesbrough were expected to have another bite this term.

However, injuries, departures and sporadic struggles with form ensured they only managed a nibble.

A trip to Cardiff City looms this weekend before the season ends on home turf against Watford. Carrick has quelled the notion that injury issues have been sparked by a change to the day-to-day operation, although admitted they are looking into their issues.

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He said: “I think there’s been such a wide range of injuries that we’ve suffered this season. We haven’t changed training one bit from what we had last season, in terms of style, strategy or the things we do and when we do them.

"We didn’t have hardly any injuries last season doing it that way. I think injuries in general in the game have gone up anyway, and we’ve had such a wide variety of injuries.

"Whether it’s been impact injuries, twists, muscle injuries - some of which have actually been on contact after a push or whatever, so not necessarily just a fatigue element. There are so many different ways in which we’ve had them.

"It’s certainly something that we have looked at over the course of the season, and it’s ongoing. We always look at how we can get better and how we can be more efficient in all aspects - prehab, rehab or whatever it might be. So I’m not brushing it under the carpet by any means, but there is only so much you can do.”

Although disruptions to the squad have proved frustrating, Middlesbrough’s head coach remains confident they will be able to keep players available going forward.

He said: "We are confident moving forward we’ll have the right ingredients to keep more on the pitch but sometimes the game moves and has certain trends in general and it's not always easy or ideal. We’ve just got to try and be realistic."