TONY PULIS has blasted the Football League authorities for selecting Middlesbrough’s game at Sheffield Wednesday as their televised game on the Friday night at the end of the international break.

Boro’s trip to Hillsborough was moved forward to Friday, October 19 to accommodate coverage on Sky Sports, but Pulis feels the decision to select the tie has left his side at a major disadvantage.

Whereas Sheffield Wednesday could only have one player away on international duty in the next fortnight, Boro will have nine or ten.

And with the vast majority not due to return to Rockliffe Park until the Wednesday morning before the trip to South Yorkshire, Pulis feels the switch to a Friday night has handed Sheffield Wednesday a huge advantage.

The Middlesbrough manager said: “We’ve got nine or ten players, so we’re going to have two days to prepare for the Sheffield Wednesday game when they come back, which I don’t think is good.

“I’m really disappointed that they’ve picked our game for the Friday, when you think that so many of our players are not going to be back into the football club until the Wednesday.

“I’m really, really disappointed because we have more players away than most clubs in the Championship, more players playing for their country. You’d just hope that someone with a bit of common sense in the league would have looked at that.

“The Championship is a great league, a league that is progressing and going places. The standard has certainly improved, and the competition has too. For us to be on TV, the people who run the Championship should want the best players out there, showing what the standard is at this level.

“For us to be asked to play a day earlier when they should know we’ve got more players away than anybody else, I find very disappointing.

“I don’t think the people at the Football League have taken any notice of the fact that we have so many players away. I think they’ve just looked at it as a good game, and thought, ‘We’ll play that game’.

“If it was better managed, they would have looked at it and thought, ‘No, that’s a disadvantage to Middlesbrough’ – because it is. There’s no doubt.

“Sheffield Wednesday have got one player away, and they’ll be able to work with their team for two weeks. We’ll be able to work with our team for two days. There’s a massive disadvantage there, and I don’t think it’s right.”

Boro play their final game before the international break tomorrow when they host a Nottingham Forest side led by former manager Aitor Karanka.

Pulis said: “We’re playing against a decent team. Forest are a good side. I watched their game the other night, and they’ve got some good players.

“Aitor has changed things around there, and brought quite a few new players in. I’m sure he’ll be really determined to come back and try to win the game.

“He had a wonderful period here and was great for the football club. He got a great reception when he came back last time, and I’ll look forward to having a glass of wine with him after the game.”