Middlesbrough defender set to miss Stoke and Preston games as Neil Warnock provides injury update after Swansea win

The Dutch defender picked up a knock during Saturday’s defeat at Huddersfield and wasn’t in the matchday squad for Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Swansea.

Dijksteel was replaced in the closing stages of the weekend’s game after Huddersfield forward Josh Koroma cut inside of the defender to score the winner.

When asked about Dijksteel after the Swansea match, Boro boss Neil Warnock said: “He just wasn’t right. I knew he wasn’t quite right at the end at Huddersfield.

“There’s no way the lad (Koroma) would have scored that third goal if he had been right.

“I should have pulled him off before that – I was going to but then Marvin (Johnson) took that quick free-kick that killed us.”

Boro will now turn their attention to the Stoke match this weekend before travelling to Preston next Wednesday.

The Teessiders will then face Millwall at the Riverside on Saturday, December 12 - a game Dijksteel could be ready for.

"He’ll probably be ten days,” added Warnock. “It’s not a bad one thank goodness, but I wouldn’t have thought he’ll make the weekend at Stoke.

"We’ll see how he is. It’s not as bad as we thought. I was crossing my fingers because we don’t want another three-month job. Hopefully, we’ll have him back for Millwall.”

Warnock made three changes to his Boro side against Swansea as George Saville was replaced by Sam Morsy in midfield.

"I left Sav out because he looked tired in training, we can't risk too much,” added Warnock.

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Middlesbrough coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor