Middlesbrough set to blood youngsters in season finale

Posted Thursday, May 06, 2021 by PA

Boss Neil Warnock could hand chances to some of his youngsters when Middlesbrough’s Sky Bet Championship season draws to a close against Wycombe.

Midfielder Connor Malley, 21, and 18-year-old striker Josh Coburn have both been handed senior debuts from the bench in recent weeks, with the manager keen to assess his next generation.

Defenders Williams Kokolo (20) and Jack Robinson (19) and 18-year-old midfielder Hayden Hackney, who has a single FA Cup appearance to his name, were unused substitutes at Luton last weekend and will hope for a chance against the Chairboys.

Chuba Akpom did not make the squad at Luton, while Dael Fry, Marcus Tavernier, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Darnell Fisher were effectively ruled out for the remainder of the season several weeks ago through injury and out-of-contract duo Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher are not being considered for selection.

Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth has no new selection problems as his club prepares for an almost certain return to Sky Bet League One.

Bottom-of-the-table Wanderers have only a mathematical chance of staying up even if they win at the Riverside Stadium.

On-loan Everton midfielder Dennis Adeniran limped out of last Saturday’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth after just 12 minutes, but he was expected to return to training in time to prove his fitness ahead of the trip north.

Should he make it, Ainsworth could name an unchanged team for the fifth successive game, although Adebayo Akinfenwa, Dominic Gape and Nnamdi Ofoborh were all missing last weekend.