Boro boy Steele set for surgery as Martin signs

19 July 2011 11:34
JASON STEELE will go under the surgeon's knife later today and Middlesbrough are trying to stay positive about when he will return to action.[LNB] The England Under-21s goalkeeper last week broke the scaphoid bone in his wrist during training which prevented him from travelling to Slovenia for a pre-season training camp.[LNB] He has been pencilled in for an operation today after specialists suggested that was the best course of action if he wants to return sooner rather than later.[LNB] Middlesbrough have enlisted the best possible care for the young goalkeeper and there are hopes he will return to action within 12 weeks.[LNB] And with other medical sources suggesting it should be a six months lay off for such an injury, the success of today's operation is likely to determine just how soon he can make a full recovery.[LNB] Mowbray has been impressed by the performances of Danny Coyne in Middlesbrough's opening two matches of their Slovenia-Croatia tour and he is set to start against Turkish side Antalyaspor tomorrow.[LNB] But Steele's injury, courtesy of an awkward fall when he dived to make a save from Leroy Lita in training seven days ago, has already led to Mowbray considering moves into the loan market.[LNB] Former Boro goalkeeper Brad Jones, who moved to Liverpool last summer for £2.3m, was mentioned over the weekend, but Mowbray is likely to see how Coyne and Connor Ripley do first.[LNB] The manager knows he can ill-afford to waste the money that is made available by chairman Steve Gibson this summer, having worked hard to offload high earners Kris Boyd and Didier Digard in recent weeks.[LNB] The Teessiders finally announced the signing of French midfielder Malaury Martin yesterday. After a successful trial, the 22-year-old signed a one-year deal.[LNB] Martin showed some nice touches in Sunday's 3-2 win over NK Varazdin, which was the released Blackpool man's first game since recovering from knee trouble at Bloomfield Road.[LNB] Martin said: I am an ambitious player and Middlesbrough are ambitious to win promotion. I've signed for one year but I would like to stay longer in England with Middlesbrough.[LNB] With Martin signed and sealed, Mowbray has now made three signings this summer following the arrivals of teenage prospects Curtis Main and Luke Dobbie.[LNB] But he has warned fans not to expect a flurry of activity following the departures of Boyd and Digard, highlighting he is still not in a position to bring in more players until he has sold one.[LNB] That means Roda winger Anouar Hadouir, also wanted by Feyenoord, could decide time has run out on Middlesbrough's attempts to land him.[LNB] Mowbray said: They (Hadouir and his agents) are fully aware of how we need to sell a player, we need to create a hole in our squad and we can't do anything about it.[LNB]

Source: Northern_Echo