Middlesbrough vs Tottenham Hotspur - Karanka applauds old friend Pochettino's work

Posted Friday, September 23, 2016 by PA

Middlesbrough head coach Aitor Karanka will welcome back Cristhian Stuani and Jordan Rhodes for Saturday's Premier League clash with Tottenham.

Uruguay international Stuani missed the 3-1 defeat at Everton with a groin problem, while Scotland counterpart Rhodes sat out with a knee injury, but both have returned to training and are available once again.

That means Karanka has only full-back Fabio da Silva (knee) and midfielder Grant Leadbitter (hernia surgery) missing from his squad as he looks to end a run of two successive league defeats.

Karanka is backing old friend Mauricio Pochettino to challenge for the Premier League title once again this season.

The two men will be in opposing dug-outs on Saturday when Pochettino takes his Tottenham side to the Riverside Stadium, having lost just once in seven games in all competitions so far this term and sitting in third place in the league table.

That is exactly where Spurs finished the last campaign after mounting a genuine title challenge until the final few weeks, and Karanka is expecting a man who like him headed to England as a young coach to maintain the pressure this time around.

He said: "He came from Spain, where he had coached Espanyol in the first division, so it's different because I came here having been an assistant; I came to the Championship, he came to a big club like Southampton, so there is a lot of difference.

"But it's true that he is doing an amazing job - it was the same last season because he was close to winning the league and again this season, he is fighting to repeat that."

Pochettino will make a late decision on Mousa Dembele and Eric Dier ahead of Tottenham's trip to Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Midfielders Dembele and Dier are both struggling with hamstring strains and may not be risked while Danny Rose will also be assessed as he nears recovery, also from a hamstring injury.

Harry Kane remains sidelined with an ankle problem meaning Vincent Janssen will be handed his second Premier League start up front.

Pochettino says he will make a late decision on his first-choice midfield pairing and may not risk them, with a crunch Champions League clash against Moscow to come on Tuesday.

"It is a little bit more than cramp," Pochettino said.

"It was a very small issue. They are running, working, nearly at the same level as the other players.

"Now I need to decide whether to take a risk or to wait for the Champions League in Moscow or against Manchester City."