Kevin Thomson's triple woe

KEVIN Thomson's stop-start first season at Middlesbrough looks set to come to a decisive halt after what the Daily Record reveals to be his third leg break in five months.

The former Hibs and Rangers midfielder has struggled to make his mark in the English game thus far - and little wonder, given that he has apparently been training on a fractured fibula since October.

It appears the break he sustained in only his second game for the club in August re-occurred two months later but the club's medical staff failed to pick up on the extent of the damage. A third break on New Year's Day was not fully revealed until a fortnight later.

Now it looks as though Thomson will finally receive the treatment he requires to make a proper recovery, with a three-month spell on the sidelines reported to be on the cards.

Meanwhile, Thomson's former manager at Boro, Gordon Strachan, has come out in support of under-fire Celtic boss Neil Lennon over his regular criticism of match officials. Strachan, one of Lennon's predecessors at Parkhead, told The Sun: "I've seen managers in Scotland behave worse than Lenny. Some turn into Tasmanian Devils in the dugout."