MICHAEL Carrick says it's not clear at this stage whether Ben Doak has played his last game for Middlesbrough after the winger required surgery on his thigh injury.
Doak is back with Liverpool to start his rehab after undergoing what has been described as a minor procedure on the injury that has sidelined the winger since January.
The 19-year-old was initially expected to be fit to return early in March but the injury turned out to be worse than first thought and after the complication it was decided that surgery was the best course of action.
Boro will now remain in close contact with Liverpool and will be kept updated on Doak's rehab progress, but Carrick admits he doesn't know at this stage whether the Scotland international will return before the end of the season.
Boro have 11 games to play plus any play-off games if they finish in the Championship's top six.
“Ben is back at Liverpool doing a bit of rehab now," confirmed Carrick at his press conference on Thursday.
"That’s normal when it gets to this stage - we’ve had that before with players we’ve sent out on loan.
"He’s back with Liverpool and we’ll just have to see how that goes and how long he’s going to be out for.
"We’ll have to wait and see. It all happened quite recently. He was doing his rehab and then it came about. It’s something that’s unfortunate - both for us and Ben. But, it’s part of the game and he will come back stronger.
“We’ll have to wait and see [if he plays again this season]. It’s hard to say either way at this stage, to be honest. He’s back with Liverpool and they are going to look after his rehab initially and see how that goes. We’ll just see how it progresses from there."
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Doak has starred for Boro this season and was one of the Championship's stand-out performers in the first half of the season. Liverpool were delighted with the way the Scotland international's loan move was playing out and the Premier League leaders turned down permanent bids from Crystal Palace and Ipswich in January.
Doak has loved his time on Teesside and is understandably frustrating having been determined to play his part in the promotion run-in.
Carrick said: “It’s like all players. It’s never nice when you’re out injured. You want to be back; you want to be playing. But it is part of the game and something you’ve got to manage and deal with at various stages of your career.
"He'll go through his rehab and hopefully be back on the pitch as soon as possible.”
Doak is one of several key first team players who Boro will be without at Swansea City this weekend.
Riley McGree is not yet ready to return, and Carrick is weighing up his options in defence with Rav van den Berg, George Edmundson and Luke Ayling all ruled out.
Edmundson will miss at least the next three games with the ankle injury he suffered at Stoke, while Carrick says Boro are still trying to get to the bottom of van den Berg's knee and Ayling's ankle problems.
On van den Berg, he said: "We're still waiting to see. They thought it might be a lot worse at one stage.
"We're still waiting to see where he's at. It might not be very long at all but it might be a number of weeks. We're still trying to work things out at the moment.
"It's something we have to deal with. We had to deal with George going off at Stoke then Luke came in, did ever so well but then went off.
"Then Neto played and did well. The two injuries to George and Luke from nothing. He just fell on top of Luke, it's really innocuous and unfortunate. We'll have to see how it settles down for Luke.
"George is still fighting his way back so it is what it is.
"Riley is still on the grass doing the stages of his rehab, he's not back just yet."
