TONY PULIS has thrown down the gauntlet to Aston Villa ahead of tomorrow’s play-off semi-final first leg by naming the Middlesbrough side that will line up at the Riverside.

Pulis used his pre-match press conference this morning to announce he will be starting with the same team that kicked off the final game of the regular season at Ipswich Town last weekend.

That means Britt Assombalonga starting ahead of Patrick Bamford in attack, and also means Adam Clayton will get the nod ahead of Grant Leadbitter at the heart of midfield.

In the past, Pulis has tended to swerve away from questions about his likely line-up, but ahead of the biggest game of Boro’s season so far, the experienced boss clearly feels there is something to be gained from ensuring Villa know exactly what they will be facing tomorrow.

Pulis said: “My team is the team I picked for the game at Ipswich. I’m not hiding anything. That’s my team - that’s the way we’ll go out and play.

“We have to be positive. All four teams (in the play-offs) will be positive. The important thing is to make sure we understand the challenge ahead and the players respond in the right manner. We have to play with no inhibitions and make sure we give it the best shot. We don’t want to come off the park feeling we’ve left anything behind.”

The tickets for tomorrow night’s game went on general sale on Wednesday morning, and around 2,000 seats in the home ends remain available.

Pulis is desperate to see those remaining tickets sell out before tomorrow’s 5.15pm kick-off, and is urging Boro’s fans to create as raucous an atmosphere as possible.

He said: “We’ve still got a couple of thousand tickets to sell. Hopefully, they’ll be gone today and early tomorrow morning. The season ticket holders have picked up their allocation, we need the Riverside to be rocking. We need every seat to be sold, and make it a tremendous atmosphere. It’s over two games and we have to understand that, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Boro beat Bristol City, Derby and Millwall in the final four games of the season, and head into tomorrow’s first leg with their only defeat in their last nine home games having come against runaway champions Wolves.

Pulis said: “We’re rolling in to this competition in good form, and that’s brilliant news for everybody, the players have been brilliant this week. They had a tough game at Ipswich, but the way they’ve played and trained this week, they’ve been very focused and on the front foot.

“We’re very pleased to be in the play-offs but the ultimate aim is to get in the Premier League. We have to now focus on what’s ahead. We’ve done one part, but we have to focus on the next part and then hopefully the part after that.”