MICHAEL Carrick isn't sure whether Rav van den Berg or Jonny Howson will be available to return for Middlesbrough at Sunderland next week.

The pair were both again missing for Saturday's 1-1 draw with Preston and although they're close to being fit, Carrick says it's too early to know for certain whether they'll be ready for Saturday's game at the Stadium of Light.

Van den Berg has missed the last three league games while Howson has been out of action since the Carabao Cup first round win at Leeds.

Marcus Forss is back in training but the Wear-Tees derby will come too soon for the forward and it's not yet possible for Carrick to put a timeframe on a return for Dael Fry, Darragh Lenihan and Tommy Smith.

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Boro were boosted by the return of Riley McGree against Preston, but the Aussie winger was an unused substitute and will benefit from another full week on the training ground.

On van den Berg and Howson, Carrick said: "We'll have to wait and see. They're both pushing for it but we'll have to wait and see.

"Marcus is a bit further off, Dael and Darragh are a bit further. It was nice to get Riley back in amongst it even though he's a bit short and needs a bit more work."

Lukas Engel has also missed the last two games, with the left-back having previously been nursing a muscle injury and fractured wrist prior to the arrival of Neto Borges.

Boro numbers were low at Rockliffe during the international break with several key players away, so Carrick is now relishing a full week on the training pitch with his full squad.

He said: "It will be good now that's the group we've got. There's a clear pathway. We have two full weeks really on the training ground that we'll try to use the best we can and hopefully we'll have even more back.

"It's just more contact time, more work. It's about a balance of information, not throwing loads at the boys all the time but getting into that rhythm and flow of what we're trying to do and improve. There's always something we're trying to improve on.

"The boys know what we expect and what we're trying to achieve but there's always something to improve on."