George Boateng is ready to fight for a place in Middlesbrough's midfield against new signings Gary O'Neil and Mohamed Shawky.

The Boro captain said: "There are certainly no automatic choices in midfield.

"I have been impressed with Gary in training. He is young and fit and capable of playing in several positions.

"Mohamed will need time to adapt to English football, but he will give us even more options.

"We all have to be versatile to play in different positions across midfield, and no-one is complaining about that."