Tough assignment against Marseille should prove ideal final assessment for Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough's pre-season comes to a conclusion this evening as Chris Wilder's side host Marseille at the Riverside. It promises to be a tough assignment for Boro against a very good French top-tier side.

And just like the Braga game, which proved to be a very difficult and bad night for Boro out in Portugal, there are many advantages to playing a game against a side with the quality that Boro are unlikely to face often, if at all, in the upcoming Championship campaign.

The benefits of Braga were seen just three days later at Morecambe on Tuesday night where Boro showed great recovery to turn in a performance that won't be far from how Wilder wants it to look next season. His team looked sharp and some of their football was crisp and stylish as they looked a side very ready for the new season.

Boro squad numbers, as vacant shirts show transfer requirements

Of course, you do have to take into account the level of opposition though, and that's why one final tough assignment, at home to an exotic opposition, should have a lot of benefits for Middlesbrough to close their summer preparations.

In an ideal world, Boro would have more new signings involved tomorrow night. They have four so far and for many of the 10,000-plus fans in attendance, they'll be getting their first looks at all four. In the case of Zack Steffen, it will be his first outing for the club having joined on loan from Man City on Tuesday.

After a summer of work permit frustrations which forced him to train alone in the States, the game should prove a vital outing to shake off the rust and build some match sharpness, with Wilder clear that the USA international is here to be number one. He was indeed handed that jersey too, as the squad numbers were dished