NEIL WARNOCK will oversee a physical assessment of his Middlesbrough players today – and is hoping he will have no Covid absentees when he selects his side to face Birmingham City today.

A major Covid outbreak forced the closure of Boro’s Rockliffe Park training ground last week, with more than ten senior players understood to have tested positive for coronavirus.

All of those players have now completed their mandatory isolation periods, and have been working on individually-tailored training programmes at home.

Warnock will be monitoring them today alongside members of Boro’s medical staff, with the early signs suggesting there are no major long-lasting effects.

The Boro boss said: “Everyone’s doing alright. They’re all back in training today, and we’ll have a look at what the situation is. We haven’t been able to do much anyway to be honest with the weather.

“We’ll have a look today at how they are. They’re a bright group. I think Duncan (Watmore) probably felt the worst, but I think overall, they’ve all come back really well.”

Ashley Fletcher and Grant Hall remain unavailable for tomorrow’s game, but Jonny Howson could feature on the substitutes’ bench.

Marcus Browne is also sidelined after dislocating his kneecap in last weekend’s FA Cup defeat at Brentford, and is due to see a specialist later today to ascertain the full extent of the damage.

Warnock said: "He sees a consultant today for a scan. It doesn't look very good, but we're not going to jump to conclusions yet until he's seen the consultant. He's down seeing him today."