RUDY GESTEDE is set to return to the Middlesbrough squad for Saturday’s trip to Bristol City after coming through Sunday’s reserves outing with Southampton unscathed.

Gestede played the full 90 minutes as Boro’s development side claimed a 3-3 draw at Bishop Auckland’s Heritage Park stadium, and showed no ill effects from the thigh injury that had sidelined him for three months.

The striker has not featured in Boro’s first team since August’s goalless draw with Preston after he was forced to undergo surgery to repair damage to his thigh.

He is back in full training though, and is expected to feature in Saturday’s squad at Ashton Gate as Garry Monk looks for an immediate response to last weekend’s 3-0 home defeat to Derby County.

Gestede started four of Boro’s first five games this season, leading the line in a central position with Britt Assombalonga cutting in from the flank.

Assombalonga has impressed in a central role in the last few months, but Gestede offers a physical option that Boro have lacked during his spell on the sidelines.

Monk would have to tinker with his formation to accommodate Gestede’s return to the starting line-up, but at the very least, the Benin international will offer an alternative option from the bench if he is preferred to either Patrick Bamford or Ashley Fletcher when his manager names his replacements for the weekend.

“Rudy put his head in and won some important balls, and did well for one of the goals,” said Boro Under-23s coach Paul Stephenson. “It was just very important for him to get that game time.”

Whereas Aitor Karanka was extremely reluctant to name first-team players in Boro’s development group, Monk appears much keener to use the Under-23 system as a way of ensuring the fringe members of his squad are match sharp.

He has also displayed a willingness to promote from the youth set-up – Marcus Tavernier and Lewis Wing have both featured in the first team this season – and Boro’s emerging young talents should benefit from playing alongside the likes of Gestede and Fletcher, who was also involved in Sunday’s game.

“It is difficult for everyone to understand what is the best thing for everybody,” said Stephenson. “We have a different way of playing and the regular lads are tuned in to the way we play.

“The other lads (Gestede and Fletcher) maybe play differently with the first team at times, different patterns of play in a slightly different way.

“As for Rudy, it was very important that he got minutes under his belt, gets a feel for it again. The most important thing is that he has worked hard, he has game minutes, and hopefully that puts a bit more of a shine on him in terms of preparation to get involved with the first team again.”