DESPITE Josh Coburn’s recent injury blow, Chris Wilder has not ruled out hopes of sending the 19-year-old out on loan to further his development as the Middlesbrough boss wants to see ‘a bit more out of him’.

After jarring his knee in the second half of Boro’s 1-1 draw against West Brom ten days ago, Coburn has since been ruled out for six to eight weeks after recent scans revealed the extent of the damage.

The news does come as a blow to club and player. Boro are severely light on attacking options in the first-team with a combination of Chuba Akpom, Marcus Forss and Duncan Watmore all battling to gain match sharpness. If Boro had managed to bring in their attacking targets, Coburn had been earmarked for a loan spell away from the club.

However, there is always the following January transfer window as Wilder said: “Is he going to be fit in the next 21 or 22 days? No. But he's a young boy progressing and he'll hopefully be a quick healer. He'll be working tremendously hard.

“I'm sure as well, with the loan market going through to January 1, there will be an opportunity for Josh. And if not, he will be part of the group.

“I do believe there will be an opportunity for Josh to go out on loan and maybe he might have to do his rehab here before he then goes, but I still think there will be big interest in him. If not, he will be part of the group.”

 Coburn has been through a rapid rise into the first-team at Middlesbrough. Having initially been handed a chance in the team by Neil Warnock, he took it by scoring as a second half substitute at home to Blackburn Rovers.

The following season, he played more of a role with his most telling contribution scoring the match winning goal against Tottenham Hotspur in the knockout round of the FA Cup.

Now that he is playing more of a prominent role in the first-team, Wilder has challenged the 19-year-old to take his game to the next level after what he describes as a slow start to the season.

Wilder continued: “We need a bit more out of him. I don't think he's had the start to the season, factoring in pre-season, that he would like and this has maybe just compounded it a bit. But these are young boys who are just learning and they've got to go through the tough periods.

“Maybe it's just been a lack of form coming into the new season, certainly from the standards that we expect of him, and maybe the injury has knocked him back. But he'll reset, go again and be okay.

“He'll find he's got good people around him and we'll push him and hopefully give him the confidence and belief within himself to get himself back to where we know he should be.”