Neither Riley McGree nor Finn Azaz have won their battle to be fit for Middlesbrough's season opener this weekend, with six first-team players set to be absent against Swansea City.

Seny Dieng, Darragh Lenihan and Alex Bangura were all confirmed as being out for the opening day given the longer-term recoveries for their respective injuries. Lenihan and Bangura are hoped to only be a couple of weeks away now after both picking up hamstring injuries in pre-season. Dieng’s return date after Achilles surgery in January is less certain.

There was, however, a faint hope that Riley McGree, George Edmundson and Finn Azaz would return for the game, with all three a lot closer to being back. In the case of Edmundson and Azaz, however, neither was able to have much of a pre-season, and their return

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