Downing out for Boro

Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing faces months on the sidelines as his home-town club attempt to stage an unlikely escape from relegation.

The 24-year-old will be a helpless onlooker for Sunday’s trip to West Ham after undergoing surgery today to pin a broken bone in his right foot, a procedure which will put him out of action until at least the start of pre-season training in July.

David Wheater and Jeremie Aliadiere (both knee) and Gary O’Neil (hip) should make the game at Upton Park, but Emanuel Pogatetz and Didier Digard (both knee), Afonso Alves (fractured metatarsal) and Chris Riggott (ankle) will all be missing again.

Team (from): Jones, Turnbull, Hoyte, McMahon, Taylor, Grounds, Wheater, Huth, Hines, Aliadiere, Tuncay, Bates, O’Neil, Walker, Shawky, Johnson, King.