JONATHAN WOODGATE will be giving his internationals a fitness check when Middlesbrough's squad spend the next 72 hours working towards Sunday’s visit of Hull City to the Riverside.

The Tigers head to Teesside for a lunch-time kick-off knowing that Boro went into the break with plenty of injury problems.

Such were those issues, Woodgate had to gamble by listening to Darren Randolph, George Friend and Ashley Fletcher when they deemed themselves fit enough to face Queens Park Rangers on November 9.

All three came through the 90 minutes and Randolph then headed away on duty with the Republic of Ireland, where he got through another full match in the final group game of Euros qualifying against Denmark.

A draw in that game means the Irish face a two-legged play-off now and that could even see them face Randolph’s Middlesbrough team-mates Paddy McNair and George Saville during that process.

Saville and McNair were part of the team that lost in Germany, even though the visitors took the lead when Saville's cross was converted by Michael Smith.

Germany recovered and ended up winning 6-1 leaving Northern Ireland facing a rematch with Nations League foes Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-offs; winning that could see a tussle with Slovakia or an all-Ireland tie.

Middlesbrough have stayed in touch with Randolph, McNair and Saville to check on them ahead of this weekend’s visit of Hull, when Woodgate’s men need to win to climb out of the relegation zone.

Woodgate’s team are without a win in nine matches and are looking to build on signs of encouragement against Queens Park Rangers, when the returns of Randolph, Friend and Fletcher did appear to help.

Marcus Tavernier was also involved at Loftus Ros and he has been on duty with England's Under-20s. He played the final half hour in a 4-0 away win over Portugal last week and then completed 84 minutes at Adams Park against Iceland on Tuesday.

Woodgate will be delivering an injury update to the media at Rockliffe Park on Thursday afternoon when all of those mentioned above are expected to be fine for this weekend.

Rudy Gestede, Ryan Shotton and Marcus Browne were the others who missed the trip to Loftus Road and they are less likely to be in contention to face Hull.

Middlesbrough need as many lifts as they can because they are a point behind Luton Town who are just outside the relegation zone.

The two teams below them, Stoke City and Barnsley, have both changed their manager of late, with the Tykes confirming the appointment of Gerhard Struber on Wednesday.

Austrian Struber will take charge of the Tykes at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday and then he will take his new squad to the Riverside on Wednesday and he has outlined a confidence he can keep them up.

Struber, who joins from Wolfsberger, said: “I am extremely happy and proud that everything has worked out and I would like to thank the board for giving me this opportunity. The last couple of days have been extremely exciting and I am ready for the challenge to do everything we can, to keep this club in the Championship.

“Now is a time for everyone to pull together, the board, the management team, the squad, the wider club staff and of course our passionate supporters.

“If we can do this together, we can keep this club in this league. I can’t wait to start working for this club and town, and especially to meet you all at the game this weekend.”