Scotland winger Ben Doak could potentially miss the rest of the season as he recovers from surgery on a thigh injury.
The 19-year-old, who is on loan to Middlesbrough from Liverpool, already looks to be out of this month’s Nations League double header with Greece.
When Boro manager Michael Carrick was asked if he expects the former Celtic youth to be able to play for the English Championship club again this campaign, he replied that it was ‘hard to say’.
Doak played the last of his 24 games for the promotion hopefuls on January 25 — and appeared to be on the road to recovery before an operation was deemed necessary.