Neil Warnock reacts to Nathaniel Mendez-Laing's Middlesbrough debut and Grant Hall's return after Derby County defeat

Boro were beaten 2-1 at Pride Park after first-half goals from Lee Gregory and Colin Kazim-Richards, before Neeskens Kebano pulled one back for the visitors.

Hall has been sidelined since September after suffering several injury setbacks but came on for the final half an hour, allowing Paddy McNair to step into midfield.

Mendez-Laing, who hasn’t played a competitive match since July after leaving Cardiff, then came on for the final 25 minutes to make his first Boro appearance.

That at least gave Warnock something to be positive about ahead of Tuesday’s game against Huddersfield at the Riverside, especially after he revealed that Yannick Bolasie has picked up a hamstring injury.

“It was nice to see both of them get some game time,” said Warnock when asked about Hall and Mendez-Laing after the match.

“I asked Mendez after if he didn’t have any hamstring problems after Yannick’s injury because they haven’t played for a while.

“I thought Kebano did alright today as well, I was pleased with him so there are one or two pluses but no one likes to lose.

“We’ve just got to get on with it and work hard on Tuesday.”

Defender Dael Fry and midfielder Marcus Tavernier also missed the Derby match through injury and are unlikely to feature against Huddersfield.

“We just need a few players back from injury,” Warnock added.

"We miss Tav’s energy and Dael’s assurance but I can’t really fault the lads that have come in, they are doing their best.”

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