Town reserve keeper James Pullen and a number of other fringe players may play some role in Wednesday night's Worthngton Cup match with Middlesbrough.

Pullen is yet to make a full appearance for the Blues but new manager Joe Royle is keen to look at all his squad in action as soon as possible. The keeper made 19 appearances while on loan at Blackpool last season.

Although Pullen may not start he is likely to take some part in the game while Fabian Wilnis, Tommy Miller and Jermaine Wright are also players he wants to take a look at.

Boro are likely to be playing their youngsters after losing to Newcastle last night in a league game. They put out a largely reserve side in the previous round of the Worthington Cup and there seems no reason to suppose they will do otherwise this time around.

Joe Royle could land a Premiership loanee today after spending yesterday on the phone making enquiries. A striker is his priority.

The return of Matteo Sereni is reported to be a possibility elsewhere, however that looks unlikely as he is still not fit after his summer car accident, is contracted to Brescia for the season and is on wages that David Sheepshanks would be loath to pay given the current financial position.

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