McGree suffered a knock in training last week, with his latest problem having been sufficient to keep him out of yesterday’s 2-1 win over Bristol City.
Michael Carrick is hoping the Australian’s issue is not too serious, but he does not expect him to have recovered in time for Monday’s trip to Hillsborough, when Boro will attempt to close the three-point gap currently separating them from the play-off positions.
McGree has suffered an injury-hit campaign that has seen him restricted to just 11 Championship starts, the most recent of which came in the New Year’s Day win over Hull City.
“Riley just got a knock in training,” said Carrick, whose side kept their play-off hopes alive yesterday when Tommy Conway successfully converted a stoppage-time penalty. “He just got a knock and that meant he wasn’t available.
“We’re hoping it’s nothing serious, but we’ll just have to wait and see. It’s probably looking like Monday will be too quick for him though.”
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Boro looked like they would slip five points away from the play-off places as they toiled unsuccessfully for the majority of yesterday’s second half against a Plymouth side who sit at the foot of the Championship table.
However, Carrick urged his players not to change their usual game, and their patience was rewarded when Conway won the stoppage-time penalty that he successfully converted.
“You’ve got to play to your strengths,” said the Boro boss. “We like to play around the box, and I don’t think it’s us, just lumping it forward. I don’t think that really suits us.
“At times when we’ve done that, or it’s just kind of happened, it doesn’t really work in the end. It doesn’t really work for us.
“There’s probably something where we get around the box, we can put a few more crosses in and really attack the box. That’s something we speak about quite a bit. When there’s a lot of bodies around the box and you’re trying to break it down, there’s different ways to do that.
“But certainly, how we get to the box, that’s what we’re good at and we have to keep playing our way. Our opportunities came from good play and good link play.”
