SAM MORSY will miss the remainder of Middlesbrough’s season after damaging his medial ligaments in this afternoon’s 1-1 draw with Watford.

Morsy was injured in a challenge that earned Nathaniel Chalobah a yellow card, and while he initially tried to continue playing, he as forced to admit defeat and hobbled off before half-time.

Initial tests have suggested ligament damage, and while he will undergo a thorough examination later this week, Neil Warnock does not expect him to play again this term.

Warnock said: “Sam’s out for the season now. He’s done his medial ligaments. We don’t know quite how bad yet, but he’s out for the season. We have blow after blow on the injuries – that’s four proper first-team players out now.

“In a VAR situation, I think the situation with Sam could have been different because we’ve looked at it and he did have both feet off the ground. Apparently, if Sam hadn’t gone in for it like he did, his injury would have been a lot worse. If he’d gone in sloppy, it would have destroyed his ligaments, so he’s got away with it but he’s still going to be out for a few months.”

Warnock was pleased with his team’s performance as they drew with a Watford side that look destined to claim one of the two automatic-promotion spots, and felt they might well have claimed all three points had the Hornets’ controversial opening goal not been allowed to stand.

Philip Zinckernagel controlled the ball with his arm before firing in the shot that Ismaila Sarr deflected past Marcus Bettinelli, although Warnock accepts the incident happened so quickly that it was hard for referee Tim Robinson to pick up.

Warnock said: “The goal did us a bit. We were complaining because we thought it was a handball. He did it so quick. It’s difficult without VAR.”