Clement delivered a fitness hammer blow when he ruled out key midfielder Pelle Mattsson for ‘several’ weeks with the ankle problem that forced him off at half-time against Coventry.
The Belgian did confirm Mattsson does not require surgery, but indicated City must now weigh up whether to make a late-transfer window move ahead of Monday’s deadline, with fellow central midfielder Mirko Topic already out for the season with an ACL knee injury.
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Clement suggested he had no other fresh fitness concerns from the squad on duty for the 2-1 win over the Sky Blues on Monday.
New signing Paris Maghoma is not in contention for Boro, with the recent arrival from Brentford still overcoming a six-month lay-off with two hamstring-related injuries.
Clement revealed at his pre-Coventry press briefing Amankwah Forson was due to return to team training this past week after his hamstring lay-off. But the City chief updated the midfielder is now scheduled to be back in team training from next week.
Shane Duffy (hamstring), Jeffrey Schlupp (hamstring), Topic and Ante Crnac (ACL knee injuries) and Gabe Forsyth (knee) are longer term absentees.
Lucien Mahovo is expected to miss the majority of the run in with a muscular problem.
Recap the key lines from our blog and watch Clement’s full pre-Middlesbrough press call.