Madine poised for Bluebirds return

Cardiff could welcome back January signing Gary Madine at home to Middlesbrough.

Madine missed Tuesday’s home win against former club Bolton after suffering a broken nose in the 1-1 draw at Millwall last week.

Sol Bamba will return in defence with Lee Peltier dropping out after Bluebirds boss Neil Warnock admitted he rushed him back too early in midweek following injury.

Jazz Richards remains out for up to three weeks, while the Sky Bet Championship game could come too soon for Matt Connolly, Craig Bryson and Kadeem Harris to rejoin the squad.

Middlesbrough hope striker Rudy Gestede can shrug off a back problem to face his former club.

Gestede would have sat out this game through suspension but for his recent red card at Norwich being overturned.

But he could now miss out through injury as manager Tony Pulis has confirmed he has missed a couple of days’ training this week.

Boro’s other former Cardiff man, defender Fabio da Silva, is their only other concern as he recovers from a thigh injury.