Middlesbrough suffers a double injury setback, but a crucial player is now back in the fold.

However, in more positive injury news, Marcus Forss has returned to training and is closing in on a first-team return after an absence of almost three months.

Latte Lath suffered a leg injury in the first minute of Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg win over Chelsea, with Bangura following him off the field after suffering a hamstring issue midway through the first half.

The pair are still being assessed by Boro’s medical staff, but Carrick has accepted he will have to plan without him as he ponders his line-up to face Millwall at the Den on Saturday.

“The pair of them coming off was obviously a big blow to us,” said the Boro boss. “To lose the two of them so early on in the game was disappointing. We’re still fully assessing it, but it looks as though it’ll be a bit of period of time out for both of them unfortunately.”

There is better news when it comes to Forss, with the Finnish forward having finally received the green light to return to training.

Forss has been absent since mid-October because of a thigh injury, but has stepped up his workload considerably this week and could feature in the matchday squad at the weekend.

With Lewis O’Brien having been an unused substitute against Chelsea, Carrick is finally starting to see some of his injured players return, even if the issues affecting his squad remain a frustration.

“Marcus is back in training,” he said. “Paddy (McNair) is not quite there yet, but Marcus is back with us. He’s been out a long time, but it’s a big step forward.

“If we get Lewis and Marcus, and obviously Finn (Azaz) and Luke (Ayling) have been added to the squad, then it feels as though we’ve had a bit of a boost. Unfortunately, we’ve lost a couple more with Manu and Alex, but it still feels good to have a few more boys in and around the training group.”

Ayling’s signing from Leeds United this week has bolstered Carrick’s defensive resources, with Anfernee Dijksteel also in contention to return ahead of the second-leg decider at Chelsea in just under a fortnight’s time.

“Anfernee shouldn’t be out too long,” said the Boro boss. “He’s not there yet, but hopefully in the next week or ten days, we’ll get him back in and around things.”