AITOR KARANKA is likely to gamble with his team selection tonight – knowing that he has enough quality in his squad if there are to be any casualties.

Karanka has four players on the cusp of a one-match suspension going into tonight’s Championship fixture at home to Rotherham with Dani Ayala, Grant Leadbitter, Adam Clayton and Diego Fabbrini all on four yellow cards for the season.

Five bookings will earn a one-match ban, but that threshold will rise to ten bookings on November 30. It is unlikely that the quartet will all manage to stay out of trouble in the four games to be played between now and the end of the month, and Karanka is resigned to losing at least one of them sooner rather than later.

Rather than manage the individual players, the Spaniard is confident that he has the strength in depth to replace any of the four should they fall foul of the referee between now and then.

“I need to think about the game because we have to play with our strongest team,” said Karanka, whose side play against Hull City on Saturday. “But it's true that if we play with all four and all of them receive their fifth yellow card and a couple more get injured, we will have (other) players to play on Saturday.

“I'm thinking of picking the strongest 11 players on the pitch.”

The four players make up the spine of Boro’s first-choice starting XI, with Ayala particularly in excellent form, and Karanka has little faith that asking them to rein their passion in would have any effect.

“I have players who are really difficult to manage,” admitted the Boro head coach. “I came here and it didn't work so I prefer when the fifth booking arrives, we have other players.

“We have an important game on Saturday but the most important game for us is tonight.”

Rotherham visit Teesside likely to possess more of a threat than Charlton Athletic, despite being lower than the Addicks in the Championship table, believes Karanka, after the South Londoners put up meek resistance in a 3-0 defeat.

“If they do something then it's more than Charlton did on Saturday,” joked Karanka. “But it's true, Charlton did nothing because we played really well and when they recovered the ball we had a good reaction to get it back.

“They didn't play because we played really well, and I'd like to play (against Rotherham) with the same intensity.

“I think I'd prefer to play the bottom teams always, as if they're at the bottom it's for a reason. But I have to play tomorrow against Rotherham, Hull are a good team but we have three days to prepare the game. Rotherham are at the bottom but it's going to be difficult and they will create problems, for sure.”

Boro were made to wait until the second half to score their goals against Charlton on Saturday, and with more teams setting up defensively against Karanka’s side, he and his team are learning to be patient.

Karanka said: “It's not easy because it's difficult, sometimes you finally leave the games because when the ball is always stopped and you can't play in your way, it's hard to manage.

“But it's easier when we have players like we do, when you have quality in the squad it's easier to win games. We have to know every games will be difficult and teams come here to play their games, but we have to know ourselves and have to know we can't lose our patience, because we have 90 or 96 minutes to score one goal.”

Tonight, Karanka will renew acquaintances with Richie Smallwood, who moved from Middlesbrough to Rotherham last summer having made 36 appearances for his hometown club, and the Spaniard was sorry to see him leave for the New York Stadium “He's the kind of player I always have with me, because he was a player who was here when I arrived and always plays his best, 150%, and I have a really good relationship with him,” said Karanka.

“He's the kind of player I've learnt with. When he came last season to my office and asked to leave I couldn't tell him no, because he was an amazing kid.

“But at that time we lost a player and didn't have a replacement. For that reason, sometimes I have to forget personal relationships but at that time, and now, Richie is a player who deserves it.”