Neil Warnock has earmarked Middlesbrough's game with Norwich City at the end of this month as a potential return date for Ashley Fletcher from injury.

The Teessiders lacked a real cutting edge on Saturday lunchtime as Birmingham City ran out 1-0 winners at the Riverside Stadium and Warnock will be hoping that is a one-off performance for the rest of the season as they challenge for the play-offs.

Certainly, some big games are on the horizon with a clash with Norwich City coming up in just under two weeks from now and Warnock is evidently hopeful that Fletcher could be involved.

Quoted by Teesside Live, the Boro boss said:

“It’s a positive seeing Ashley getting back.

"When you’ve got what we’ve got, you need people like Ashley fit. It’s nice to get Jonny (Howson) back, and hopefully it won’t be long until we’ve got Ashley back too. I think he’s probably looking at the Norwich game for being involved."

The Verdict

Fletcher started this season in good form with a couple of goals against Shrewsbury in the League Cup but that hamstring issue he suffered soon after has seen him miss a lot of football since.

However, it appears he is not far away now and is upping his recovery with Warnock looking at the game with Norwich as a possible comeback game.

The striker will be eager to show what he can do when he does return and if he can get the winner against Norwich, should he feature, he'd certainly earn a few plaudits from supporters.

He still has a point to prove amongst some quarters on Teesside, so let's see how he does.