MICHAEL Carrick hopes Tommy Conway is available to return for Middlesbrough after the international break - and Dael Fry might not be too far behind him.

Conway has missed Boro's last three games but isn't far away and with the forward not linking up with Scotland next week he'll now have a fortnight at Rockliffe, with the hope the 22-year-old will be ready to face his former side Bristol City at the Riverside after the break.

Conway's return would be a big boost for Boro, with the attacker having enjoyed a hugely impressive start to life on Teesside before his injury setback.

Fry will hopefully be knocking on the door to return later this month with the defender having now got a week and a half of full training under his belt. Fry hasn't played for Boro since Bristol City's last visit to Teesside in early February.

Updating on injuries after Saturday's defeat at Watford, Carrick said: “Hopefully Tommy will be available again after the break. Dael is closer. He’s been training with us for about 10 days now. We’ve got to be careful with him though because he’s not played a game since January. We’ve got to be patient with him to get him up to speed."

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Jonny Howson was again missing at Vicarage Road, while Alex Gilbert remains sidelined having twisted his knee in training last month.

And a group of other injured players are further behind in their recovery.

"Darragh (Lenihan) is not training with us, but he is on the grass and doing things, so he’s a little bit closer," said Carrick.

"Jonny should be close after the break. Lukas (Engel) and Tommy [Smith] are further down the line."

George Edmundson twisted his ankle in the warm-up at Watford on Saturday but quickly recovered and played all 90 minutes, putting Boro ahead before the home side's late turnaround.