Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick says he hopes to have Dael Fry back available for the game against Stoke City on Tuesday night.

The centre-back missed the 3-1 win over Swansea City at the weekend, with Paddy McNair taking his place in the starting eleven. Carrick has confirmed that Fry was suffering from an illness but he could be in contention to face the Potters:

“We’ll just have to see (if Fry is okay for the Stoke game). He hasn’t been great most of the week. We’ll just have to see how he is when we get back tomorrow for training. We’ll make a call on that.”

From the sound of things, it could be 50/50 whether Fry is available. The 25-year-old has made 29 appearances in the league this season and he has been a regular starter up until the last couple of months.

Carrick has also provided an update on Isaiah Jones. The winger wasn’t in the matchday squad for the trip to Wales, prompting questions about his fitness, but Carrick says the 23-year-old was simply left out in favour of Sonny Finch:

“There was no reason (for Jones’s absence). Finchy has just been excellent in training and I thought he deserved his chance.”

Jones started the first three games after the World Cup but he has hardly featured since the New Year and you do have to wonder about his long-term future at the club.