Middlesbrough face Blackburn Rovers at the Riverside this weekend and will welcome the return of striker Britt Assombalonga and defender Dael Fry, according to the Hartlepool Mail.
Fry hobbled off injured in the first half against Birmingham City due to a hamstring issue, making way for 17-year old Nathan Wood for his league debut. However, the defender will be available after nursing his injury over the cup weekend, meaning Wood may still have to wait for his first league start for the club.
Assombalonga has not played since December 7th, in the 1-0 win over Charlton Athletic. Ashley Fletcher, Rudy Gestede, Lukas Nmecha and Stephen Walker have been used up-front in rotation in his absence, but the Boro number nine could be drafted in from the start on Saturday against Blackburn.
The news that Manchester City loanee Patrick Roberts will miss between six and eight weeks due to a hamstring strain has meant Boro’s team is even more depleted. But the return of Assombalonga and Fry will be a welcome one for Head Coach Jonathan Woodgate.
Ryan Shotton, Anfernee Dijksteel, George Friend and Dani Ayala are all still missing, as they receive treatment for a variety of injuries. However, Woodgate confirmed that Shotton and Friend had returned to light training this week and should be back in contention after games with the under-23s in the coming weeks.
Middlesbrough are the second-lowest scorers in the division with 29 goals in 29 games and will hope that Assombalonga can get firing, starting with Saturday afternoon against Tony Mowbray’s side.
