Lenihan starts: The strongest Middlesbrough XI Wilder can field as West Brom clash looms

It is now less than a week until Middlesbrough get their 2022/23 Championship campaign underway.

With West Brom at home up first, Boro face a tricky test in what should give Chris Wilder a very good early indication of where his side are at.

Boro will be hoping they can better their 7th place Championship finish they achieved last term and reach the division’s play-offs, at the very least.

To help them do that, the club have made some solid additions in the transfer market so far this summer.

Darragh Lenihan has been brought in on a free to help strengthen the club’s backline, meanwhile, Chris Wilder has also made use of the loan market, bringing in Man City keeper Zack Steffen and Wolves’ Ryan Giles.

With that being said, here, we’ve put together an XI that we think could be Wilder’s strongest as the West Brom clash looms.

With Joe Lumley having been loaned out to Reading, we think that Manchester City loanee Zack Steffen should be the strongest option for Boro inbetween the sticks this campaign.

Meanwhile, we’ve elected for a back-three of new signing Darragh Lenihan, Dael Fry, and Anfernee Dijksteel.

Paddy McNair would have been the selection on that left side of defence, however, his suspension for the first fixture made up our mind for us.

At left-wing-back, new signing Ryan Giles gets the nod, with Chris Wilder having waxed lyrical about him in recent weeks.

On the right hand side, Isaiah Jones should once again be a threat for Boro this term. Wilder will hope Jones can put any speculation linking him with a move away from the club to the back of his mind.

The Boro boss will hope that is the case for Marcus Tavernier, too, who has consistently been linked with a move to the Premier League this summer.

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