MIDDLESBROUGH will be able to call on the services of Albert Adomah this month after the winger was omitted from Ghana's provisional squad for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Ghana head coach Avram Grant has trimmed his initial party of 31 players down to 26, and Adomah is one of the five players to have missed out.

The 27-year-old will not now travel to Spain for a pre-tournament training camp, and should be available to play for Middlesbrough in Saturday's Championship game at Reading.

The Africa Cup of Nations begins in Equatorial Guinea in a fortnight's time, and Adomah would have been absent for around a month had he been selected as part of the Ghana squad.

Boro are still set to be without full-back Emilio Nsue, who has been named as part of the provisional Equatorial Guinea squad.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Jamal Blackman has returned to Chelsea following the end of a loan spell that saw him make one senior appearance for Boro.

Blackman will be the third-choice goalkeeper at Stamford Bridge, replacing another former Middlesbrough goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer, who has joined Leicester City.

"We'll bring Jamal back from Middlesbrough," confirmed Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. "He was on loan there but he wasn't playing so for them it's not a problem.

"For us, he's a young, English goalkeeper. He can work with (Thibaut) Courtois and (Petr) Cech so for him it's a good experience."