TONY PULIS has rejected suggestions that his Middlesbrough side lacks creativity, but urged his forwards to start showing a ruthless streak as he looks to engineer a return to the Championship’s top two.

Boro travel to Sheffield Wednesday tonight, with Pulis set to rest George Saville and Martin Braithwaite because of their international commitments in the last fortnight.

Pulis remains unhappy at the decision to reschedule tonight’s game, with Middlesbrough having had ten players on international duty while their opponents have only been without one squad member, but having submitted a formal letter of complaint to the Football League authorities, his focus in the last few days has switched to improving his side’s goalscoring record.

While Boro boast the best defensive record in the Championship, their tally of 14 goals from 12 league matches is bettered by 13 of their rivals.

Pulis has been accused of being overly-defensive in some quarters, but the Boro boss refutes the idea that chances have been at a premium this season. Instead, he has pointed the finger at his strikers, and urged them to start finding the net on a more regular basis.

“We had 24 efforts at goal at Ipswich, away from home, and against Forest we had 26 crosses into the box,” said Pulis. “We’re getting into the final third – what we have to do is make sure we take our opportunities and chances better.

“From the first time I came into the football club, that was my big gripe then and it’s still the same now. We look solid enough, and I think we play some good football, without a doubt. We play through the pitch, and we play through quickly. It’s just the final third of the pitch.

“At one end, we’ve been very, very good, but at the other end, we haven’t been so good, so we have to improve in that respect. It’s about taking your chances. I don’t think we’ve played any games where we haven’t created clear-cut opportunities, and you come away thinking, ‘Well, we haven’t done anything in that game’. But we need to be scoring more.”

Pulis has chopped and changed his strikers in an attempt to find a successful formula, but so far, his efforts have proved in vain.

Britt Assombalonga is Boro’s leading scorer, with four Championship goals to his name, but was dropped to the bench for the games against Ipswich and Forest. Jordan Hugill started those matches, but is yet to score a league goal in a Boro shirt, while the fit-again Rudy Gestede has only scored two Championship goals since August 2017.

All three have proved reliable second-tier goalscorers in the past, but Pulis desperately needs them to start finding the net again if Boro are to keep pace with their rivals in a congested promotion race.

“If you’re creating opportunities and chances, then you want people to score goals,” he said. “That’s what we’ve got to do, we’ve got to score more goals.

“They’ve done it before, but we want them to do it now – that’s what we want. Even the last game (against Nottingham Forest), the opportunity Britt has when he’s through, if he scores there, it changes the game completely. That’s what you want - you want that ruthlessness in front of goal.”

Pulis could opt to pair Assombalonga with Hugill tonight as Braithwaite is an unlikely starter following his international exertions with Denmark.

The forward was involved in both of Denmark’s games last week, scoring the second goal in Tuesday’s 2-0 friendly win over Austria, and only returned to training yesterday morning after being assessed by Boro’s medical staff.

Saville and Besic played against each other on Tuesday as Northern Ireland took on Bosnia in Sarajevo – Paddy McNair and Darren Randolph were also involved in the game – and all four were examined closely yesterday. Saville is an unlikely starter at Hillsborough, having played in both of Northern Ireland’s matches, but Besic could make the starting XI after sitting out the first of Bosnia’s games.

Adam Clayton will return to the starting line-up, having been a substitute against Forest, and Pulis could also turn to the likes of Grant Leadbitter and Lewis Wing, whose involvement so far this season has largely been restricted to the Carabao Cup.

“Whichever team I pick, I’m confident that group of players will go out there and give it their best,” said Pulis. “We had a lot of players away, but we’ve still had ten or 11 back at the training ground who have trained.

“We’ll look at it. I think the important thing is that I speak to the medical people and have a look at the stats the lads have come back. I’ll also have a good look at the amount of time they’ve spent playing, and the travel as well.

“Besic has played only one game, but the other two lads (Saville and Braithwaite) have played two games and didn’t get back until the early hours, which is a big drain.”

Pulis has outlined his frustrations to the Football League, and is hoping more thought will be given to the selection of televised matches at the end of future international breaks.

“Sheffield Wednesday have had two weeks where they've had players in every day, we’ve had players coming in at the last minute, leaving us with one day to train,” he said. “I've put a letter in and I think they understand where we're coming from. We'll see. It's too late for us, but it's not just about Middlesbrough, it's about other teams in the league and the league itself.”

Middlesbrough (probable, 4-3-3): Randolph; Shotton, Ayala, Flint, Friend; Howson, Clayton, Besic; Assombalonga, Hugill, Downing.