MICHAEL CARRICK is delighted to have Darnell Fisher back in the first-team fold at Middlesbrough – but he is refusing to put a timeframe on the defender’s potential return to action.

Fisher has been sidelined for 18 months since suffering a freak knee injury during the summer of 2021.

The full-back was injured when a friend slipped and fell on him during the off-season, and having missed the whole of last season, he has also been forced to sit out the first half of the current campaign.

He has been able to step up his rehabilitation programme significantly in the last couple of weeks though, and has begun to join in with some training sessions with the rest of the first-team group.

A return to competitive action would boost Carrick’s options on the right-hand side of his defence, but with Fisher having been out of action for so long, there is an understandable determination to tread carefully when it comes to mapping out the 28-year-old’s comeback schedule.

“It’s different when it’s such a long-term injury,” said Carrick. “We’re delighted to have Fish back in and around things. He’s inevitably picked up the odd little niggle here and there, which is quite common when you’ve been out to so long and your body is adapting to training again.

“I would never put a timeframe on a long-term injury like that. We’ll be patient, take it step by step, and hopefully we have him back as soon as possible. No timeline on that at all though.

“It’s not fair when you’ve been out so long because there are all sorts of factors come into that and being patient and getting back onto the football pitch and enjoying your football is the most important thing.”