TONY PULIS will spend today assessing his international players before settling on Middlesbrough’s starting line-up for tomorrow’s televised game at Brentford.

The last of Boro’s international contingent returned to Rockliffe Park yesterday, with no new injury problems having appeared during the recent break.

Ryan Shotton remains unavailable, but Pulis has the rest of his squad at his disposal as he prepares for the trip to Griffin Park.

However, with a number of players having only taken part in their first training session yesterday, there could be changes for the game with the Bees.

Pulis said: “Everybody is fine, but we only had the last ones back yesterday. We’ve got no new injury worries so it’s a fully-fit squad, but there’ll be some decisions to make.”

While Boro’s international contingent were away on Nations League or friendly duty, the rest of the senior squad spent some of the last fortnight taking part in a team-bonding visit to RAF Leeming.

Boro’s players took part in a number of activities that tested their mental resolve rather than their physical abilities, and Pulis is hoping they will have benefited from the trip.

He said: “It wasn’t physical, it was mental. They were given problems and they had to solve them. The RAF set them out different problems to solve, from what I was gather it was tough.

“It's getting them together, taking them out of their comfort zone and trying to get them together as a group. Today, with that square thing everyone uses, you forget to talk to one another.

“Their phones were taken away so they had to work together as a group instead of talking on those things all the time.

“A change is as good as a rest. We make sure we gave them that rest period, but it was nice to do something different. The RAF were fantastic, they were top drawer.”

Boro head into the weekend in second position in the Championship table, and will be taking on a Brentford side that have struggled to cope with the departure of their former manager, Dean Smith.

The Bees, who are now under the managerial control of Danish boss Thomas Frank, have won just one of their last 11 matches in all competitions.

Pulis said: “They’re a club that have got an identity. Dean did a fantastic job there, and he's got his reward by going to Aston Villa. I’m pleased he got his reward.

“It’s a good club, they’ve got an identity, and the people behind the scenes have decided this is the way they want to go. Everything looks bright there, which is really good. It' a club that's got great tradition.

“It's a football ground that suits the home side because the crowd are really tight to the pitch. But I've been there a lot and so have the players, so fingers crossed it won't affect us.”