Middlesbrough FC news and transfer rumours: Sheffield United defender linked plus George Friend injury concern

Middlesbrough have been linked with a move for Sheffield United defender Kieron Freeman.

The 27-year-old right-back made 20 appearances for the Blades in the Championship last season but has only featured in the EFL Cup for Chris Wilder’s side this campaign.

According to TeamTalk, Boro are one of several Championship clubs who have enquired about Freeman who is keen to go out on loan.

The defender has made 136 appearances for United since arriving from Portsmouth in 2015.

Injury concern for Boro

Back at Boro, there are concerns over club captain George Friend who missed Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Hull due to an on-going thigh issue.

The 32-year-old defender has made just two league appearances this season while struggling to overcome the injury he sustained last season.

Friend made his long-anticipated return at QPR before the international break but now requires further tests ahead of Wednesday’s home game against Barnsley.

“We need to do a bit more investigating with George,” said Boro boss Jonathan Woodgate after the Hull game. “It could be a new injury with the thigh muscle which won’t be good.

“He played that game and felt a bit of tenderness, we need to do a bit investigating into it and I’ll have the definitive answer probably Monday.

“It’s the same area but if you have an operation in a certain area it can be a snowball effect so other areas get stressed more and that could be the case.”

Half-time team talk helped us says Hull striker

Finally, Hull frontman Tom Eaves praised manager Grant McCann for the half-time team talk at the Riverside.

The Tigers were 2-0 down at the break but were handed a boost late in the first half after Marvin Johnson’s was shown a straight red card.

Yet Eaves also believes Hull stepped things up after the interval.

“We didn’t start the game how we wanted to but we came out after the break and played with real intensity,” said Eaves.

“The gaffer told us to pull our fingers out during the interval – and we did. We played some good football and passed it a lot faster than we did in the first 45.”