Middlesbrough will have their hands full on Friday when they travel to the MKM Stadium to face Hull City, as Sergej Jakirovic may be able to welcome back two of his most dangerous attackers.
According to HullLive, the Tigers, who already have the Championship’s second-best scoring record, want to get Oli McBurnie and Liam Millar back in training early this week in preparation for Friday’s game.
The attacking combination have been absent since the end of October, with McBurnie dealing with a calf injury and Millar’s return from ACL surgery hampered by a new hamstring ailment.
McBurnie, in particular, has been a huge loss for Hull in the eight games he has missed, having already contributed ten goals in as many games prior to his absence.
And, with Boro presently dealing with their own defensive injury issue, this is not the news Kim Hellberg would have wanted to hear to begin his week.
Middlesbrough targets Oli McBurnie and Liam Millar’s injury return.
Hull returned to winning ways over the weekend with an outstanding away victory over promotion contenders Stoke City, and boss Sergej Jakirovic was eager to repeat the good news following the game.
“Oli [McBurnie] and Liam [Millar] should be back in training this week,” he informed Hull Live.
“We are aiming for Middlesbrough, but we shall see. If it’s not Middlesbrough, it’s 100% Wrexham [on December 10].
Boro manager Kim Hellberg will be hoping for the latter, as the Swedish manager was embroiled in a bizarre injury crisis in his first game in charge against Derby County, forcing him to play left-back Matt Targett at centre-back and drafting in Alex Bangura for his first competitive start in 22 months.
“We had four centre-backs who were not playing. “I’ve never been in that situation before,” Hellberg remarked following Boro’s debut triumph.
He’ll be hoping he can fix it in time for Friday, especially as Boro’s opponents are expected to return two of the division’s most dangerous strikers.
Middlesbrough prepared for a tough defensive struggle against Hull City, which is only heightened by the duo’s return
A Friday night fight under the lights at the MKM Stadium is never a fun proposition, but if McBurnie and Millar return from injury, Middlesbrough’s fears will be heightened.
McBurnie returned to the Championship after a year in La Liga with Las Palmas, where he scored six goals and assisted four. He won the Player of the Month award in September and appeared to be one of the division’s greatest frontmen until suffering an injury.
Millar, on the other hand, has been plagued by injuries since joining East Yorkshire from Preston North End last summer, appearing in only 17 games.
However, in his first start for the Tigers this season, a goal-scoring effort in a 2-1 victory over Leicester City, he shown that he still has the potential to be one of the division’s most dynamic wide forwards.
Middlesbrough were always in for a tough defensive battle, considering their injury problems and Hull’s ability to score while McBurnie and Millar were out.
But the possibility of them both playing in Friday’s encounter will be even more of a concern for Kim Hellberg, as Boro attempt to become only the fourth team to defeat Hull this season.
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