Van den Berg was forced to sit out last weekend’s goalless draw with Norwich City after suffering a minor injury issue in the Easter Monday defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.
The Dutch defender was given the green light to return to training at Rockliffe Park at the start of this week, handing Michael Carrick a selection dilemma ahead of this weekend’s trip to Coventry, which will see Boro try to force their way into the top six in the final game of the regular Championship season.
Dael Fry returned to the starting line-up to partner Jonny Howson at centre-half last weekend, and with Boro having kept a clean sheet against Norwich, Carrick could opt to stick with the same central-defensive duo for a second game in a row.
McGree has also been back on the training pitch this week, but the Australian midfielder is an unlikely starter on Saturday lunchtime given the length of time he has spent on the sidelines in the last few months.
McGree made a brief substitute appearance in last month’s defeat Millwall, but prior to that, his most recent involvement with the first team had come on New Year’s Day when he started the win at Hull City.
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Having been an unused substitute in the Norwich game, Neto Borges has also stepped up his training programme in the last few games. Again, though, the defender is likely to be back amongst the substitutes at the weekend, with Aston Villa loanee Samuel Iling-Junior expected to retain his place in the starting side at left-back.
“Riley and Rav have both trained with us a little bit this week,” said Boro head coach Michael Carrick, whose side will claim a play-off place if they win at Coventry and both Millwall and Blackburn fail to win their respective final games. “They’ve been back in and around the group so that’s a real positive.
“We’ve got Riley back training after seeing the specialist and he looks good. He looks fine. So, we’re hopeful [we’ve got to the bottom of his problems]. It’s obviously the end of the season now, but to have him back with the group is good for us.
“Neto has trained with the boys this week as well, a little bit. There’s an element of keeping everything fresh and getting that balance right, but he has been back in and around it, so it’s good to have him back.”
