PATRICK BAMFORD will not face former club Derby County in tomorrow’s huge tussle for a play-off place, Middlesbrough manager Tony Pulis has confirmed.

Bamford has not trained since being knocked out on the pitch at the Riverside Stadium against Bristol City last Saturday. That afternoon saw him treated on the pitch for nine minutes before he was carried off.

Now the club doctor has recommended he misses Saturday's game at Pride Park.

The Middlesbrough striker is the club’s most in-form forward after scoring nine times in recent months, but now record signing Britt Assombalonga will be given a chance to shine from the start.

Pulis said: “Patrick will not make it. I don’t think we will take that risk. Having said that it gives Britt the opportunity to play.

"Hopefully he will come to the party. Stewart Downing and Ben Gibson haven’t trained all week with little knocks, hopefully they will be OK though.”

Middlesbrough are looking to claim a victory that would put four points between themselves in fifth and the Rams in seventh. There are plenty of other clubs looking to capitalise on any slip-ups too.

And Pulis hopes last week’s 2-1 win over Bristol City, another top six contender, will give his players the boost going into such a significant match in the run-in.

He said: “It was a good performance, I felt we deserved to get our victory last week. Now you move on, the next is the most important. Derby have been up there all season. They have very experienced players, Gary Rowett has done a great job to keep it going.

“Everything is not fixed in life, especially football, hopefully last week will give them the confidence to get a result. There are so many variables, we just hope the Gods are smiling on us.

“In this league you have to turn up every week, if you don’t turn up you won’t get results. Two clubs have beaten Derby recently and they turned up and maybe Derby didn’t, but they have top players and it will be a difficult game.

“I am more concerned by what we do. We have talked about Derby, but it is about what Middlesbrough do with the ball and what we do when we haven’t. The conditions will be a bit different if we maintain this weather. There are all sorts that come into play.”

And Pulis is adamant he is not even thinking about the final two games with Millwall and Ipswich.

He said: “We have two games after which? The only one I am thinking about is Derby. I am only concerned about Derby, that’s the only thing we can affect.

“It has always been my way, there are so many variables, bad decisions, a sending off, all sorts can happen.

“Sometimes your players are on it, otherwise not. You are dealing with human beings, we have to make sure we are properly prepared, and we have to do our utmost to get our players in the right frame of mind.”