Jon Dahl Tomasson will welcome Joe Rankin-Costello back into his squad against Middlesbrough but the game comes too soon for Arnor Sigurdsson and Niall Ennis.

Rankin-Costello missed two matches before the interntional break after coming off against Watford with a groin injury. He played 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors win over Rochdale to help build his fitness.

The full-back is fit to play against Middlesbrough, though Tomasson stressed the importance of using his squad with seven games in 21 days coming up. Dom Hyam is also available after coming off ill against Plymouth Argyle whilst Jake Batty is fully fit again too.

"Sam Barnes is still out, it's a long journey for him," Tomasson said. "Arnor Sigurdsson got 30 minutes in the game against Rochdale but he is not ready yet, we need to build him up.

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"Joe got 45 minutes, we'll be playing seven games in 21 days so I am sure he'll be involved in this period. We've had the opportunity to train the final third and we have been bery good at creating chances.

"That was good to see that we have goals. When you practice the games, it's less in terms of the quality they are less so that is good for the confidence. 

"We lost the last game against Plymouth but there were chances and it was not a bad performance. We are one of the sides creating the most chances."

Fans are eager to see new signing Arnor Sigurdsson, who is yet to make a competitive appearance after suffering a groin injury in pre-season. He is continuing his rehabilitation and played 30 minutes against Rochdale.

He will not be ready to be involved against Middlesbrough with Rovers keen to ensure he does not break down again. Similarly with Ennis, he is not fit after three weeks out with a knee injury and will probaly take another fortnight before he is training again.

"I think it will take more time, that was my mistake," Tomasson said. "He has been ill as well for a week.

"I think we will see him back in two weeks from now. When I say back, I mean in training and then it will be a week, week and a half if everything goes well as the medical staff expects.

"With Arnor, he'll play 45 minutes on Sunday. When you have been injured for almost three months, it will take time. We have to judge how good is the performance in training.

"We know he's a great player but even great players can take some time to get up to speed in a tough league."