Rav Van Den Berg to miss Middlesbrough’s Carabao Cup game at Bradford
RAV VAN DEN BERG is a major doubt for Middlesbrough’s Carabao Cup third-round game with Bradford City, with Matt Crooks, Marcus Forss and Alex Bangura already having been ruled out of the game.
Crooks is suspended for Boro’s trip to Valley Parade after picking up bookings in each of the opening two rounds of the League Cup, while Forss and Bangura are both unavailable because of injury.
Van den Berg started the game at right back as Boro defeated Southampton to earn their first league victory of the year, however he was forced to leave the game in the 73rd minute due to leg muscle injury. He is currently being evaluated by the Boro medical team, therefore it seems unlikely that he will start against Bradford.
Tommy Smith could replace him on the right of the back four, although Michael Carrick is reluctant to take any unnecessary risks with the defender, who returned from his own injury lay-off with a substitute appearance at the weekend.
“We’re still having a look at Rav,” said Carrick, who will not be considering Matt Clarke for selection tomorrow as the defender continues to build up his fitness after a lay-off of almost a year. “He had a pain at the top of his hamstring. We’ll give him an extra day or two to see exactly where he’s at. We’ll have to wait and see, but Bradford probably comes a bit too quick for him.
“Tommy is getting better, but he’s had a bit of a stop-start period after getting injured in pre-season. He came back and played a couple of weeks before missing another chunk after a slight setback. So, he’s finding his rhythm still and there’s a little element of being patient with him right now.”
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