Jeremy Sarmiento missed Middlesbrough’s last three games
15:01, 11 Sep 2026Updated 15:09, 11 Sep 2026
Jeremy Sarmiento of Middlesbrough(Image: Phil Oldham/Shutterstock)
Middlesbrough will be boosted by the return of Jeremy Sarmiento this weekend, with the squad expected to have a clean bill of health for Norwich City.
With the exception of any potential unknown problems picked up in the midweek cup defeat against Crystal Palace, Sarmiento was the only Boro player on the injury list.
But the forward, who started the season well after making his switch from Brighton a permanent one this summer, is now back in contention for Norwich’s visit to the Riverside.
Boss Kim Hellberg updated: “He’s good. He was with us to Crystal Palace, but wasn’t in the squad because it would have been a minor risk, I think, by putting him in a little bit too early, and I didn’t feel that was necessary.
“So I kept him out of the squad for security a little bit to give him a little bit more time. But now he’s ready.”
Should Boro have avoided any new injuries – of which Hellberg would be keen to keep under wraps if they had – it will be a rare period for Boro of having no first-team players injured at all.
Certainly in the last three seasons or so, there’s never been a period where the injury picture has looked as positive – with enforced absentees proving a real problem in recent times.
After the midweek cup distraction, Boro return to league action where they will be looking to build on their positive start to the campaign after picking up ten points from the opening five games.
In Norwich, they host a side widely tipped to challenge Boro for a promotion spot this season, after their strong end to last season under Philippe Clement.
It was a slower than expected start for the Canaries this term, but they appear to have turned that around and make the long trip to the north east on the back of consecutive victories against Sheffield United and Birmingham.
“They’re a good side,” Hellberg previewed. “They have been strong since the coach took over, and won a lot of games. I’m looking forward to the game.
“It was a tough game against them last time we played them at home – a 1-0 win after a goal from Hayden [Hackney].
“I watched their [Birmingham] game of course and saw the win. It was quite a good game between two good teams and could have gone either way.
“But again, you watch as much as you can, try to build a plan and then try together with the players to execute that plan as good as ever possible. That’s what we’re doing this time too.”
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While Norwich will prove a challenge, Hellberg can take heart from the performance his players showed in midweek against Premier League side Palace.
Although they lost the game 3-0 at Selhurst Park to end their cup run at the third-round stage, they matched the top-tier side well for around an hour of the game.
“I think I looked at the first 65,” Hellberg reflected. “It’s always a business of results, but if you’re going to ask me to look at the game from two points of view, I think that was a very good performance over 65 minutes.
“There are things that you need to do better, of course, against a good side. We had 50 touches in their box, I think they had nine in ours.
“We were in their half a lot, we had double the amount of shots than they had… but again, when they went there, they were much better than us.
“But it was a brilliant 65 minutes and you should not be down 2-0. But that comes from not defending well enough in those moments, and they were very skilful in those moments.
“And also us not being good enough when we get to our positions, because we were in much better positions more often than they were.
“I think that’s been one of our best performances this year and for a long time, I think in how we play. We’re still down 2-0 after 65 minutes, which is the thing that matters most over a short period of time. But over a long period of time, I think the performance was very good from the players.”
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