WITH Middlesbrough looking to find solutions to resolve their stuttering season, the time given during the international break will be put to good use according to manager Chris Wilder as he focuses on getting players back to full fitness.

Heading into the two week domestic break, Boro sit in the Championship relegation zone with just two wins from ten games this season.

They will be thrown straight back into a hectic fixture schedule once the international break concludes with three games in the space of a week starting with a trip to Coventry City at the beginning of October.

In the meantime, the next fortnight will be put to good use with Boro having to contend with injuries and late arrivals to the squad as Wilder said: “It does give us a bit of breathing time to work on a couple of things and time to get a couple of really important players back fit or some really important players getting work they needed on the training ground.

“There are players that have come into the club very late, a couple of players that are still finding their way. Rodrigo (Muniz) has a couple of bits and pieces and still is only a young kid so he has got a bit of work to do with the way we play as well.

“It’s not ideal but it is not an excuse. We just have to keep going. We knew the international break was what it was and the three games were big games. We’ve had one postponed for obvious reasons and we’ve took one point out of six. Obviously, we’re not looking at that and thinking that is a great return.”

By the time Championship football resumes again, Boro will hope to have defender Darragh Lenihan and striker Chuba Akpom return from injury when they face the Sky Blues.

The Republic of Ireland defender has missed the last three games due to a foot injury he picked up in the defeat to Watford. Meanwhile, Akpom hasn’t featured since the 2-2 draw with Sheffield United where he scored both goals in the game. He has been suffering with a knee injury.

Elsewhere, a recent Under-21’s game on Sunday against Norwich City provided ample opportunity for players to get some important minutes under their belt. Tommy Smith, Massimo Luongo, Matthew Hoppe and Marc Bola all featured in a 3-1 defeat to Norwich City in a game that was played at the Riverside Stadium. American Hoppe was on the scoresheet while Bola received a red card in the game.

It's all part of a balancing act the manager is hoping to strike in order to get a tune out of his squad.

“Some will need a bit of a break, some will need working” continued the Boro boss. “Some will play for the Under-21’s tomorrow afternoon (Sunday) that need minutes under their belt like Mass (Luongo) and other players. Some players go away on international duty, some players will recover from little knocks or niggles that we’ve got.

“We’ve Lenihan who is a huge player for us out at the moment so hopefully he is close to be back playing. Chuba, he’ll be a big player. It might gives us an opportunity to get some of the bigger players back and we’ll be a lot stronger I’m sure when we reset at Coventry.”

Meanwhile, five Boro players have received international call-ups over the next fortnight. Paddy McNair has been selected for Northern Ireland for their Nations League ties against Kosovo and Greece with Caolan Boyd-Munce on standby. Boyd-Munce has been selected in the Under-21’s squad.

Marcus Forss will also be in Nations League action for Finland when they take on Romania and Montenegro.

Riley McGree is in the Australia squad for two friendly ties against New Zealand while goalkeeper Zack Steffen is on standby for USA for friendlies against Japan and Saudi Arabia which will take place in Europe.