MARTIN Payero is progressing well from his comeback from injury but Riley McGree is continuing to be assessed for a ‘soft muscle’ injury as Middlesbrough look at their squad for Tuesday’s trip to Sheffield United.

Payero has been out since the 2-2 against Queens Park Rangers because of an ankle injury but has been working his way back to full fitness and is expected back before the end of the season.

McGree missed last week’s defeat to Barnsley because of a calf problem and hasn’t been seen since. He was out of the matchday squad for their 2-1 win over Luton Town on Saturday.

Manager Chris Wilder has delivered an update on the pair saying: “Martin is coming along well. He doesn’t need an operation so he’s working his way back. Riley missed out again today which we’re disappointed with. We’re assessing that because it’s not a straightforward one.

“We’re disappointed he can’t be involved because I think we all saw from his early performances that he’s a valuable member.

“But, you know, I think back to when we first arrived and people talked about the squad being decimated. We’ve got two long-term injuries which pre-date our arrival. Martin Payero’s is a contact injury, going for a 50-50 tackle at QPR, and then we’ve got a little bit of a soft muscle injury with Riley possibly due to his lack of football before he arrived here. But he’s a naturally fit boy.

“So I can’t complain too much. Only one player out and I think it would have been difficult to make wholesale changes today. I don’t really want to make changes for the sake of it.”

Speaking about an important run of fixtures to come, Wilder added: “But obviously it’s a big week coming up for us now. We’ll see what happens when we get to the international break and hopefully we’re in the mix after we can get some rest and recovery into everybody with seven or eight games left to play.

“If we show the character we showed today, added to the character we’ve shown in previous games, we’re looking to be in the mix and we’ll take that.”

They go to Bramall Lane on Tuesday evening as Wilder comes up against his former side. They will be looking to keep their place in the play-offs after climbing back into the top six after the win over the Hatters yesterday.