AITOR KARANKA has made four changes to the Middlesbrough starting line-up for tonight's trip to play-off chasing Reading.

Karanka was frustrated with the way his side lost to Millwall on Saturday so he has scrapped the wing-back system which he started with against the Lions.

That has allowed full-backs George Friend and Jozsef Varga to slot in while Ben Gibson, back from suspension, and Kenneth Omeruo will play centrally.

Jonathan Woodgate is the man to miss out, while Jacob Butterfield, Grant Leadbitter and Lee Tomlin also drop to the bench. Luke Williams comes in behind striker Danny Graham. Reading have only won one of their last seven games at the Madejski Stadiunm but will hope to capitalise on Boro's failure to close the gap on the top six with three games remaining.

READING (4-4-2): McCarthy; Gunter, Pearce, Obita, Williams; McCleary, McAnuff, Guthrie, Morrison; Kanu, Le Fondre. Subs: Federici (gk), Pogrebnyak, Drenthe, Akpan, Cummings, Hector.

MIDDLESBROUGH (4-2-3-1): Konstantopoulos; Varga, Omeruo, Gibson; Friend; Whitehead, Chalobah; Adomah, Williams, Ledesma; Graham. Subs: Steele (gk), Butterfield, Leadbitter, Tomlin, Main, Ayala, Woodgate.