RAV VAN DEN BERG is a major doubt for Middlesbrough’s Carabao Cup third-round game with Bradford City, with Matt Crooks, Marcus Forss and Alex Bangura already having been ruled out of the game.

Crooks is suspended for Boro’s trip to Valley Parade after picking up bookings in each of the opening two rounds of the League Cup, while Forss and Bangura are both unavailable because of injury.

Van den Berg played at right-back as Boro claimed their first league win of the season against Southampton at the weekend, but came off in the 73rd minute after suffering muscular pain at the top of his leg. He is still being assessed by Boro’s medical staff, meaning he is an unlikely starter against Bradford.

Tommy Smith could replace him on the right of the back four, although Michael Carrick is reluctant to take any unnecessary risks with the defender, who returned from his own injury lay-off with a substitute appearance at the weekend.

“We’re still having a look at Rav,” said Carrick, who will not be considering Matt Clarke for selection tomorrow as the defender continues to build up his fitness after a lay-off of almost a year. “He had a pain at the top of his hamstring. We’ll give him an extra day or two to see exactly where he’s at. We’ll have to wait and see, but Bradford probably comes a bit too quick for him.

“Tommy is getting better, but he’s had a bit of a stop-start period after getting injured in pre-season. He came back and played a couple of weeks before missing another chunk after a slight setback. So, he’s finding his rhythm still and there’s a little element of being patient with him right now.”

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Bangura suffered a hamstring injury on his Boro debut at Blackburn earlier this month, while Forss has been sidelined for the last four matches because of his own injury issue. The pair will not be involved against the Bantams, but should be back in the fold in the next two or three weeks.

“Alex and Marcus aren’t ready for Tuesday,” confirmed Carrick. “We expect we’ll have them back before the international break though.”

Carrick intends to make changes tomorrow, but has ruled out making wholesale alterations in the wake of Saturday’s much-needed league win.

“There’s definitely a balance to be struck,” he said. “We’ve got a busy spell over the next couple of weeks. The schedule is pretty full, so it’s not just a one-off game we’re focusing on, it’s a little bit further than that.

“Whoever plays, we feel as though we’ve got a terrific squad where if we make changes, it can be like for like in many ways. We’ll have decisions to make. I’m not saying we’ll be changing the whole team by any stretch, but there’s certainly a couple of areas where there’s a few niggles. Crooksy is suspended, so there are things we’ll have to deal with.”