PADDY McNAIR has a chance of being available for Saturday's trip to Swansea City, but the Middlesbrough centre-half still has to complete the final stages of the concussion protocols before he receives the green light to return to competitive action.

McNair was left concussed after suffering a facial injury during Boro’s 2-0 defeat at West Brom towards the end of last month.

He was forced to sit out last weekend’s 5-0 thrashing of Reading, but has been able to step up his recovery programme this week. As a result, Boro head coach Michael Carrick is hoping the Northern Ireland international will be able to travel to south Wales to face Swansea this weekend.

“He’s (McNair) kind of been back,” said Carrick. “There are processes that he’s still got to go through a little bit. So, we’re hopeful (he will be available for the weekend), but we’re still waiting to see.”

If McNair is passed fit to join the squad at the Swansea.com Stadium, Carrick will find himself facing a difficult choice when it comes to selecting his starting centre-halves.

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McNair was looking back to his best prior to suffering his facial injury at the Hawthorns, but in his absence, Dael Fry has returned to the starting side and slotted in seamlessly alongside fellow centre-half Darragh Lenihan.

With Carrick seemingly committed to sticking with a flat back four, three into two does not go, but while the Boro boss accepts he will have to make some tough decisions in the remaining 11 matches of the season, he also insists it is a welcome problem to be facing.

“I think it (whether to change centre-halves) depends on the players a lot of the time,” he said. “The boys have shown that whoever has been playing, they’ve done well and been able to do the job. They’ve been more than capable, and played very well.

“There’s slightly different styles between the three of them, but they complement each other very well. They’re getting a good test in training because the forward boys are playing well. Training is going up because of that, and they’re testing each other. The three centre-halves have all done fantastic, and we’re comfortable with whoever plays.”