BRAZILIAN full-back Fabio da Silva has suffered a nightmare start to life at Middlesbrough after learning he will be out for up to six weeks through injury.

Fabio had to be withdrawn prematurely from his Boro debut against Fulham in the EFL Cup when he damaged his knee as he delivered a cross that led to David Nugent’s goal.

He was assessed in the days after that but it has since emerged he has been ruled out for more than a month with the problem.

It is a blow to the South American following his £2m move from Cardiff City because he has already had to miss the trip to West Brom through the injury.

Now Fabio hopes to be back in October to figure in Middlesbrough’s first season back in the Premier League – and his own since suffering relegation to the Championship with the Bluebirds in 2014.

The 26-year-old would have fancied his chances of playing at West Brom too because of an injury to George Friend, who went over on his ankle. Now the focus is on trying to return to full fitness as soon as he can to compete for a starting spot.

Friend, along with other injured players Victor Valdes and Marten de Roon, will be assessed during the five days to determine if they will be fit to be considered to face Crystal Palace this Saturday.

While their injuries have been frustrating, none of them have suffered quite like Alex Baptiste did at the start of his Middlesbrough career.

The 30-year-old’s only competitive appearance for the club since arriving from Bolton in July last year was during that defeat at Fulham earlier this month.

He suffered a double leg fracture on his first outing in a Middlesbrough shirt at York City in a pre-season friendly in the summer of 2015. After recovering he went out on loan to Sheffield United and he has joined Preston last week for the whole season.

Baptiste said: “I’ve got another year left after this one, I’m on a season-long loan and I don’t know what the future holds after. My aim now I’m here is just to do the best for Preston North End.”

Aitor Karanka was gutted when Baptiste suffered the serious injury and has since been unable to call on him because he has had to look in other directions in his absence. Promotion to the Premier League has also not helped his cause, having seen the head coach bring in more defenders.

Baptiste said: “Last year was one of the worst years of my life. It was good to get some games at Sheffield United though and I want to kick on from there.

“It’s not a nice injury so say the least. When the lads at Middlesbrough were doing so well I was obviously happy for them but it was gutting not to be part of it.

“It’s football and these things can happen. I’ve been fortunate with injuries in the past and touch wood I will be now too.

“It’s happened but it’s in the past now.”