WE'VE made it. The first international break of the season is over. Just another two to go before November. 

Boro's return to Championship action will see them make the trip to the midlands where Coventry City, who have made a strong start to the season, are the opponents. 

Now that we're just days away from the trip to the Ricoh Arena, here are five burning issues Boro will need to confront after the recent international break. 

Will Andraz Sporar and James Lea-Siliki be ready to play?

The Northern Echo:

Both of Neil Warnock's deadline day signings put pen-to-paper on their respective loan deals and jetted off to represent their home nations. 

Sporar has been a regular feature from the substitutes bench for Slovenia. In their 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Malta, Sporar missed grom the penalty spot in the 88th minute. 

As for Lea Siliki, he was also a feature from the bench for Cameroon coming on during their 2-1 WC qualifying defeat to Ivory Coast. He shared the substitutes bench with former Boro loanee Harold Makoudi. 

Given that the rest of the squad have been in training over the last fortnight, it won't be much of a surprise to see the pair of them on the bench for Saturday's trip to Coventry City. 

Will Neil Warnock play three in defence?

The Northern Echo:

It's been a burning question for some time now among the Boro fans. 

So far this season, Warnock has largely opted with four at the back in a 4-2-3-1 system thus ensuring that the likes of Matt Crooks, Isaiah Jones and Marcus Tavernier are given the license to flourish in the attacking areas. 

Given Warnock's love for a pacey and tricky winger, it seems unlikely that he will revert to a system using wing-backs. Jones hasn't looked out of place on the left hand side in the Championship and it would seem counter productive to place him in a deeper role. 

Where is Paddy McNair's best position?

The Northern Echo:

While McNair racked up numerous awards and plaudits from the fans for his performances in defence, he's looked relatively anonymous in midfield. 

He's been used as one of the two deep lying midfielders alongside Jonny Howson or Sam Morsy but hasn't had much of a say in games when playing in the middle of the park. 

Most recently, he's been pulled further back as part of a back four against Derby County and and back five against Blackburn Rovers. 

The set piece specalist has contributed with a pre-assist in the win over Bristol City but it's been a largely quiet first five games of the season. 

In Northern Ireland's most recent games, he's been used in a deeper role and has made telling contributions in victories over Lithuania and Estonia so it remains to be seen whether Warnock will be convinced to keep him in deeper role. But will depend on what system Warnock wants to use. 

Is there enough forwards in the squad?

The Northern Echo: Uche Ikpeazu

Most people will have their own assessments of this but it's fair to say that Boro are still light in the forward areas even with the addition of Sporar on deadline day. 

When it comes to central strikers, Boro only have Uche Ikpeazu and Josh Coburn as options while Duncan Watmore and Sporar can play across a front three and Crooks can slot into the role when needed. 

Given the way Warnock tends to set up his teams, a striker with the mould of Ikpeazu is much more of a favourable option. If the striker gets injured, as we've seen in the game against Blackburn, then it will take some rejigging. 

There is the free agent market that Boro can exploit but there would be limited options for them to pursue until January.

Will Martin Payero get a look in? 

The Northern Echo:

It's strange how we've gone from the furore of Payero's deal going through after weeks of waiting to him being casted to one side. 

It is a big move for the 22-year-old Argentine and one that the Boro coaching staff are prepared to bide their time with. The move has already drawn comparisons to Juninho's first move to Teesside back in 1995 when it took him a few months to get used to England. 

Everybody of a Boro persuasion is keen to seen how Payero will fare in the Championship with regular game time under his belt and there will be further cries for a starting place if results don't go Boro's way in the next few weeks.