AITOR KARANKA insists he is prepared to mix things up in his attempt to turn Middlesbrough in to genuine promotion contenders.

The Boro boss preferred to play with a lone striker and two holding midfielders since taking over from Tony Mowbray 11 months ago.

But that would not accommodate his new signings and it remains to be seen how he plans to field latest recruits Jelle Vossen and Patrick Bamford along with Spanish summer signing Kike and Lee Tomlin.

But Karanka insists the issue does not concern him and he is willing to change his preferred system if it means getting the best out of his creative and forward-thinking players.

He said: “It’s what we wanted, two players for every position. For me it is very important to be able to play with two strikers or three midfielders, play them in different positions, different strengths. It’s good for the players to have more than a strength to their game. It’s better to have 22 or 23 players than less players.”

Based on the first few games this season, Kike and Vossen would be competing for the striker’s role, although Bamford is also capable of playing there as well as in the No 10 role where Tomlin has been used.

But as Boro prepare for Saturday's trip to Huddersfield, and in the coming weeks, Karanka could engineer a rare change of formation.

It has been an inconsistent start on Teesside, where Middlesbrough have won two and lost three of their opening five league games.

Vossen’s arrival on deadline day along with Chelsea goalkeeper Jamal Blackman mean 12 players had been signed by Karanka this summer, so the squad definitely has his feel about it.

And the Spaniard is satisfied with the work of the recruitment team.

He told the club’s website: “I’m very happy. We were working a long time ago on signings and finally we have a squad we were all working for. The most important thing for us is when your work is finished because you know that people were concerned that the new players had not arrived. But finally they are all here.

“When you are working, you know the club has worked on things, and you finally get the players, then that’s good for everyone. For me the most important thing is that all of the players wanted to be here and we can move on now.”

Karanka also has different players to play wide. Dutch winger Yanic Wildschut, signed from Heerenveen, gave fans a glimpse of his pace in Friday’s training match at the Riverside.

Wildschut graduated from the Ajax academy system before moving clubs in the Eredivisie and he thinks his excellent grounding will help him adapt quickly to life in England.

Wildshut, 22, said: “If you have played at Ajax it can open a lot of doors. It’s nice to have played there, you learn a lot. I learned a lot from players like the De Boers, Wim Jonk, Jaap Stam. I have a lot of speed, attacking actions and I want to show the public what I can offer and hopefully enjoy playing football here.”