DEADLINE day signing Carlos De Pena could be in line to make his first appearance as Middlesbrough welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Riverside in the third round of the Capital One Cup tomorrow night.

The Uruguayan has been an unused substitute in the last two games against MK Dons and Nottingham Forest respectively, as boss Aitor Karanka has issued caution to allow the player to get up to speed with life at the club.

Though in his pre-match press conference, Karanka has confirmed that De Pena is a possibility for tomorrow’s game.

“It can be (a possibility),” said the Middlesbrough head coach. “But again, we have to try to put him on the pitch at the right moment. I don’t want to make a mistake, he needs time to settle in.

“He’s training really well but he can be possible for tomorrow.

The Boro boss, who will be looking to make it six consecutive wins in all competitions tomorrow against Wolves, stated he and his squad are fully focused on the fixture, putting their ambitions in the league to one side.

“I like to think about games and now the league is forgotten for me," he said.

"We have a game against Wolves in the Capital One so I am focussed on the cup and my objective is to win tomorrow and when that game is over we can think about the league on Sunday when we play Leeds.

“Now it's not about the league it is about the following and that's the cup so we have to forget the league for two days and focus on the cup.”

On the back of their recent form, the head coach feels his squad have greater strength in depth to cope with a league and cup fixture pile up than they did last season, subsequently mounting a serious challenge in all.

Asked if an increase to the squad’s strength will help Karanka said: “I think so. For example last season, in this round we played against Liverpool and the previous game we had lost Dean Whitehead for three games as he was sent off. We had to play Liverpool, Blackpool and Charlton without him.

“I had to invent something because the players were exhausted, especially after the game against Liverpool. Now we have more options, and this season we are stronger than last season.”

Karanka praised his players for their recent run, which has seen them lose just one of their opening nine league and cup fixtures, but warns that they must not take their foot off the gas.

He added: “It’s (the squad) stronger, more mature and more experienced but, again, we have to keep going in the same way because if we lose one or two games we are going to have problems because the other teams are in the same position."