AITOR KARANKA has revealed that Dean Whitehead would have started tomorrow’s Capital One Cup third-round tie at Liverpool had he not been sent off in the closing stages of Saturday’s win over Brentford.

Whitehead received a straight red card for an 83rd-minute challenge on Alan Judge, and will sit out tomorrow’s game at Anfield as well as the subsequent league games against Charlton Athletic and Blackpool.

Karanka was going to make changes anyway tomorrow, but Whitehead would have been in the starting line-up had he not seen red two days ago.

“Dean will be a big miss because he is a veteran player with lots of experience,” said the Boro head coach, who is now expected to promote Adam Clayton to the starting line-up in place of Whitehead. “He is a player I was definitely thinking about playing tomorrow, but unfortunately he can’t play now.

“After tomorrow, he will miss two more games, but we have very good players to come in and play and that is what they have to do now.”

With Whitehead unavailable, Grant Leadbitter may have to assume additional defensive responsibilities against Liverpool and curtail some of the attacking runs that have helped him score six goals already this season.

Leadbitter only scored six Championship goals in the whole of the last campaign, and Karanka has been delighted with his skipper’s efforts so far.

“Grant is a very important player for us, and he is going to be especially important for us tomorrow because of his experience,” he said. “He is playing very well at the moment, and is full of confidence. When you’re captain is strong, your squad is always stronger.”

Liverpool go into tomorrow’s game on the back of a 3-1 defeat at West Ham United, and it will be interesting to see what kind of side Brendan Rodgers selects.

The likes of Brad Jones, Kolo Toure, Jose Enrique, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert will come into the reckoning for a starting spot, and Karanka is relishing the chance to test his players against one of the leading sides in the Premier League.

“It is always a good time to go to play at Anfield,” he said. “I never played there as a player, but I have been once to watch a game and think it is one of the best place to play football.

“We are in a good way, and this game is good for us, but everybody knows how difficult it is going to be.”