Daniel Farke’s Whites are facing a tighter turnaround than Michael Carrick’s Riversiders who played on Friday night at Burnley. A 1-1 draw for Boro has left them fifth in the table and seven points behind second-placed Leeds whose weekend fixture took place on Saturday lunchtime at home to Derby County. A 2-0 win took Leeds from third to first before the Whites dropped back to second on Sunday through Sheffield United’s 2-2 draw at West Brom. But Leeds also suffered a fresh injury blow during Saturday’s win against the Rams, details of which Farke revealed at Monday’s pre-match press conference as part of a mixed bag of team news. Boro boss Carrick also held his pre-match press conference on Monday and here we run through the team news from both camps.
1. Jayden Bogle (doubt)
Farke revealed at Monday's pre-match press conference that Bogle was a new doubt due to hamstring muscle pain. Photo: Danny Lawson
2. Aidan Morris (doubt/out)
Boro's USA international midfielder Morris twisted his knee in training on international duty last month and was thought to be looking at a number of weeks out. He was not mentioned as one of the players back in training by Carrick at Monday's press conference. Carrick said last week that Morris was back on the grass but that Boro needed to be careful with him and that he wasn't yet actually back in training. Photo: George Wood
3. Ilia Gruev (out)
United's Bulgarian international midfielder Gruev remains on the comeback trail from knee surgery and no set date has been given for his expected return. Photo: George Wood
4. Junior Firpo (out)
A big blow, Farke revealing at Monday's press conference that Firpo had suffered a serious hamstring injury and was looking at four to six weeks out. Photo: George Wood
5. Marcus Forss (out)
Boro's Finand international attacker Forss has been out with a slight niggle and is not yet ready to return but not far off. Photo: Catherine Ivill
6. Alex Bangura (out)
One of the longer term Boro injuries, Sierra Leone international winger Bangura expected to miss the majority of the season due to Achilles problems. Photo: Owen Humphreys