Middlesbrough FC's Chris Wilder on Rodrigo Muniz and Matt Clarke's weekend involvement and a blow regarding Chuba Akpom

Akpom was brought in from the cold by Wilder at the start of the season and produced a fine display in scoring twice in the recent 2-2 home draw with Sheffield United.

But the ex-Hull City loanee jarred his knee in the first half. He preserved on the restart, but it has now been confirmed that he faces a further spell out with the forward having missed the club's last two matches.

The arrival of Brazilian striker Muniz on a season-long loan from Fulham will mitigate for the loss of Akpom's physical attributes and he is set to be involved against the Swans and be handed a debut.

Wilder, whose side have yet to win this term in a disappointing start to 2022-23, said: "You all understand I have to be a little bit coy at times with injuries, but Chuba is going to be out for four weeks, which is a huge blow for us, and a huge blow for him as well because of his performances this season. That’s four weeks from when the injury happens, so we’re thinking it will be closer to the international break.

"It’s a really disappointing one for both us and him. When he comes on against QPR he gave us that physical presence, throughout against Sheffield United he gave us that physical presence, and it’s something we’ve lacked. We lacked that at Reading and maybe that was why we played to intricate, too precise, too slow and too ponderous because we didn’t have that target to go into.

"But with Rodrigo now we have that target to go into, and then with Chuba when he comes back and hopefully another one coming through the door, at the top of the pitch we’ll get to where we want to get.”

Confirming that both Rodrigo and defender Clarke - who has joined for £2.25m from Brighton - will be involved this weekend, Wilder added: "They will both be involved on Saturday. We’ve talked in these press conferences about having to be patient and to wait for some of these players and I understand that’s not ideal.

"But we’ve had to with some like Rodrigo because he was at a club where he wasn’t allowed to leave.

"But there has been a lot of noise with Rodrigo as well in recent weeks and we’re delighted to get him because he gives us presence and power. It’s an option that we’ve lost because Chuba Akpom is going to be out for four weeks. We needed another option like that anyway."

On Clarke, Wilder said: "The boy will have done his work diligently over the summer, and he came in Wednesday (a day off) to do some extra work. He’s in an okay condition, because he will get better with games and time on the training pitch."