BERNARDO ESPINOSA will not be making any more appearances for Middlesbrough’s Under-23 team, with Aitor Karanka keen to ensure the Spaniard is fully integrated into the first-team squad.

Espinosa joined Boro on a free transfer from Sporting Gijon this summer, but arrived on Teesside still nursing the after-effects of a knee ligament injury he sustained in January.

He missed the whole of pre-season as he completed his rehabilitation, and has been eased back into action with a couple of appearances for Paul Jenkins’ development team.

His involvement at that level is now at an end though, with Karanka having introduced him into the first-team group at Rockliffe Park.

It remains to be seen when he makes his senior debut, with Boro’s exit from the EFL Cup having cut down both the number of matches and Karanka’s need to rotate his squad.

But having pushed for Espinosa’s capture at the start of the summer, the Boro head coach is confident the 27-year-old centre-half will have an influential role to play at some stage this season.

“Bernardo is good,” said Karanka, who will look to guide the Teessiders back to winning ways when Tottenham visit the Riverside on Saturday. “He’s training with the team and has played a few games with the Under-23s.

“We decided, and he decided, it’s best to train with the team, and one day, if he wants to play with the Under-23s, he can because he’s intelligent. But he’s a player I can put on the pitch.”

Sadly, the same does not yet apply to Grant Leadbitter and Fabio Da Silva, with the pair both still a month or so away from full fitness.

Leadbitter underwent hernia surgery in July, while Da Silva injured his knee in the opening ten minutes of his Boro debut during last month’s EFL Cup defeat at Fulham.

“Grant is going well, better than we thought,” said Karanka. “I hope we can see him - not soon, but before we were expecting. Fabio will be another three or four weeks.”

Boro are far from the only Premier League team suffering from injury problems, and their weekend opponents, Spurs, are facing up to the likelihood of being without their leading goalscorer, Harry Kane, for a number of weeks.

Kane suffered suspected ankle ligament damage in his side’s weekend win over Sunderland, and left White Hart Lane on crutches after he had been carried around the perimeter of the pitch on a stretcher.

He is extremely unlikely to be fit for Spurs’ weekend trip to Teesside, with Mauricio Pochettino likely to turn to summer signing Vincent Janssen as his replacement.

Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele were also substituted as Spurs beat Sunderland 1-0, but they were only suffering from cramp and should be fit to face Boro in four days’ time.