Selection headache warmly welcomed by Boro’s Karanka

WHEN it comes to selection issues this afternoon, Aitor Karanka is in the kind of position that most of his Championship counterparts would wish for.

Spoilt for choice is the perfect terminology, with the Boro head coach, who has two first-team players for every position across the park, having dilemmas of the right kind today.

The Basque is giving no clue to his line-up, with deadline-day recruit Jelle Vossen pushing for a start along with the likes of highly-rated young Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford and ex-Holland Under-21 international winger Yanic Wildshut – not to mention ex-Town midfielder Adam Clayton.

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Despite a mixed start to the season, expectation is high among the big 3,000-plus travelling contingent heading down from Teesside for a first Saturday meeting between the sides in Huddersfield since October 1987.

On having a gamut of selection posers – and making no apologies for it – Karanka said: “It’s the best thing. The best thing for me is having 22-23 players and all of them are capable of playing in every single game.

“I am the manager and I have to choose the players. I have a very big problem but I prefer to have this problem than to arrive at my office and say ‘who have I got to play tomorrow?’”

The former Real Madrid assistant is keeping tight-lipped about who will actually start at the John Smith’s Stadium, confirming that Belgian international Vossen and Heerenveen winger Wildshut, will be in the squad.

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Karanka, who assisted Jose Mourinho in his time at Real, added: “I need to think about everything. I think both will be in the squad but I need to think about the actual team.

“We have to be careful with all the new players who have come because most of them didn’t play in pre-season.”