Chris Wilder explains why Middlesbrough man missed Barnsley defeat

Chris Wilder confirmed that Riley McGree had a calf issue that forced him to miss Middlesbrough’s defeat at Barnsley yesterday.

The Australian midfielder was handed a first start for his new club as they beat West Brom in the week and he impressed throughout. Therefore, it was a surprise to see McGree wasn’t involved at Oakwell, as many had expected him to be in the XI.

But, speaking to Teesside Live, Wilder explained that he has to manage the former Birmingham player carefully, as he confirmed a slight injury prevented the left-footer from featuring against the Tykes.

“Riley has not had a lot of football. He’s a naturally fit and athletic boy. But he went away with Australia, played a part over there and got Covid. Come back and played 15 minutes against Derby, a good half an hour at Bristol City and the full game Tuesday.

“We had to look at his load. He had a tight calf yesterday which he flagged up. I’m looking at another 12 or 13 games left in the season for the sake of one game. If it was the last game of the season then maybe we would have chucked him in.”

The verdict

It was obvious that McGree had picked up a knock because he was very good against West Brom in the week and surely would’ve started if available.

As Wilder mentions, there’s a lot of football to be played, so it makes no sense to rush him back, even if it was frustrating that he couldn’t build on that strong display in the week.

Given the comments from the boss, Boro fans will hope the new signing can feature against Luton next week in what is another huge game.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.

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