Aliadiere to make Boro bow

Former Arsenal striker Jeremie Aliadiere is likely to make his Middlesbrough debut against Hertha Berlin on Tuesday evening.

The 24-year-old is in line to play at least 45 minutes of the game in Austria after missing Friday's 3-0 defeat by Schalke with muscle tightness.

Manager Gareth Southgate is hopeful both he and defender Chris Riggott, who is fit again after his latest injury, will take part after returning to training at the club's pre-season camp in Bad Waltersdorf.

However, Adam Johnson will join Stewart Downing and Julio Arca on the sidelines with a minor knock.

Southgate said: "I think we should have Chris back and we should have Jeremie Aliadiere back, so they will both play a half each.

"None of the others that missed the game the other day are back, so we are still a long way from having a big squad to choose from.

"But that's part and parcel of being in pre-season. We need them fit for the middle of August."

Southgate is excited at the prospect of sending out Aliadiere for the first time in a Boro shirt after finally ending his dogged pursuit of the Frenchman.

He told the club's official website, www.mfc.co.uk: "If Jeremie plays tonight, that gives us something different because he will stretch teams with his pace, so it will be interesting to see how that works, not just from his point of view, but how it affects the rest of the team.

"The type of work we have done has been different to what he has been used to, but he has shown some outstanding things in training. The pace he and Tuncay (Sanli) bring not only adds to our team, but it also gives our defenders another type of challenge in training as well."