LEWIS O’BRIEN is determined to make up for lost time by helping Middlesbrough force their way into the play-off picture in the final two-and-a-half months of the season.

Having joined on loan from Nottingham Forest in the summer, O’Brien had high hopes of playing a prominent role in Boro’s first team this season.

Instead, a fractured tibia and serious ankle damage sustained during an innocuous challenge in September’s win at Watford meant he had to undergo surgery and was sidelined for four months.

He returned in late January, and has become an increasingly influential performer in the last few matches, culminating in last weekend’s start on the left-hand side of midfield against Leicester City.

O’Brien set up Finn Azaz’s opener as Boro shocked the league leaders, breaking down the left flank before delivering a slide-rule cross, and is delighted to be back making a positive contribution after an extremely frustrating spell out of the team.

“It’s been a long, tough road for me,” said O’Brien, who was also sidelined in the second half of last season after the breakdown of a proposed deadline-day loan move to Blackburn Rovers left him in contractual limbo. “I obviously came here to play as much football as I possibly could.

“The injuries set me back a lot. I’m still not 100% per cent, I don’t think. With the ankle, it’s not an injury that just, when you’re fit, you’re fit. It takes a bit of time to build it back up.

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“I think (at Leicester), with the conditions and the win, it’s probably the first time I haven’t felt any pain in it. I had four months out and it was tough sat watching the lads. But I’m back and we’re still in and around it, so we can have a real good push now.”

O’Brien formed part of a radically remodelled Boro starting side at the King Power Stadium, and with major injury doubts continuing to hang over both Jonny Howson and Hayden Hackney, there is every chance Carrick will have to continue tinkering with his midfield in the next few weeks.

O’Brien proved his adaptability when he slotted in at left-back earlier in the season, and with the likes of Paddy McNair, Riley McGree, Marcus Forss and Sam Greenwood also able to play in a number of different positions, the 25-year-old is confident Boro’s squad will be able to cope with whatever is thrown at it in the next few weeks.

“We’ve all got to have each other’s back, especially in the midfield,” he said. “In training, we try to work on building those connections between all of us because you never know when you’re going to be playing together.

“When you look at our squad, we’ve got a very strong squad and it gives the option to change the team. I think we proved that me and Dan can do a job together in the midfield (last weekend), and hopefully we can try and carry that on.”