Middlesbrough v Coventry City - Neil Warnock nursing Boro through hectic period of fixtures

Tonight’s Championship visit from Coventry City will be Boro’s fourth game in ten days, with three more to come in the week-and-a-half before the next international break. After that two-week pause it will be more of the same gruelling schedule for the rest of 2020 as the Championship try to squeeze the season into a shorter timeframe than normal because of the coronavirus-delayed start.

Warnock explained it was why his side had to do without the creativity of on-loan Manchester City player Patrick Roberts for Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Cardiff City.

“Pat Roberts played a really good game last week (at Bristol City) but we didn’t use him on Saturday because the day after his game, we do tests on his muscles because he’s had muscle injuries before, and it was really down, he was fatigued,” he explained. “So when we had a loosener, Paddy went for a swim. I knew then we couldn’t use him.

“He’s almost back to normal again now. We’ll have to do that with Paddy, we’ll keep a real close eye on him with the physios.

“It’s great when you can look at muscles like that and measure it. We don’t want to risk him being out long term.

“I think we’re going to have to do that with a couple of players. I think we have to look at games coming up where we can give him a rest. At the same time he (Roberts) is an important player.”

Trying to create some downtime for his players will be in Warnock’s thinking when he picks tonight’s team, but he will not want to lose the momentum which has seen Boro go unbeaten in their last six matches. However, with only one win from their opening seven matches, newly-promoted Coventry offer a better chance to rotate the squad than the tough run of games it has just been through.

“We’ll have to look at certain lads and the minutes they’re doing and if we can give one or two breaks,” explained Warnock. “It’s difficult in certain positions because we haven’t got any choice.

“At the moment the midfield three are doing well, my decision at the moment is do I rest one of those or not?

“In my mind, before Saturday’s game I was thinking I might have rested Sav (George Saville) because of his Ireland games, but how do you rest someone who’s scored two in two? It’s a difficult job, this.”

Warnock has often complained that he has a small squad, and with Ashley Fletcher out injured, he was relieved to be able to bring back fellow centre-forward Britt Assombalonga at the weekend.

One area where he has plenty of options is out wide – and he feels he needs them.

“Fortunately we have got wide players that we can change,” he commented. “We have to do that because they put a lot of work in.

“Young Tav (Marcus Tavernier), who I thought did well on Saturday, he wants to play all the time, Tav. He’d go and play again on the Sunday if I let him.

“We’ve got very good medical team here so we’ll trust them to look after him.”

One thing that has helped is that Boro were able to travel to Bristol and Cardiff – two trips the veteran manager was unhappy to have to make in the same week – by plane, aiding the recovery process.

“I’ve got to say a big thanks to our owner Steve Gibson,” said Warnock. “If we’d done it on the road all the way it would have been disastrous. To let us fly is really part of the reason we’ve got the good results. I can’t thank him enough for that.”

Saville puts his goalscoring form down to a settled position and the confidence of his manager.

“This is not me complaining but I’ve played in various positions for different managers here, Boro fans have seen me play left-back, left wing-back, left midfield, holding midfield,” he said.

“I’ve had a bit of momentum this season and the manager is showing good faith, all I can do is try and repay him and show what I’m good at.

“You’ve seen a lot of lads under this manager grow in confidence. Anfernee Dijksteel has been superb.

“There’s a few of us, we’re growing in confidence, we know our jobs and it’s a season to look forward to.

“I think it’s (Warnock’s) man management, there’s a good buzz around the place, the manager makes players feel good before they’ve even touched the ball.

“If we can keep progressing, build on that and show a bit more going forward, we can have a good season.”

Nathan Woods was sent home from training ill on Friday, but tested negative for covid-19.

Last six games: Middlesbrough DWDWDD; Coventry City LDLLDW

Referee: D Webb (County Durham)

Last time: Middlesbrough 1 Coventry City 1, August 27, 2011, Championship.

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