Championship football returns after a blank fortnight – and the passing of another transfer deadline – and there are plenty of points of interest for both sets of supporters as Huddersfield Town prepare to host Middlesbrough.

The home side, of course, have a new manager, and Chris Powell will be desperate to hit the ground running at the expense of Spaniard Aitor Karanka.

Powell is all set to hand a debut to Mark Hudson, the centre-back brought in from Cardiff City to bolster a defence which has leaked 13 goals in five league games and 18 in seven matches overall this season.

Boro were even busier as the transfer window closed, and Karanka has four new faces available for selection.

With Nigerian defender Kenneth Omeruo and attacker Patrick Bamford already on board, he used his links with Chelsea chief Jose Mourinho (the pair worked together at Real Madrid) to borrow keeper Jamal Blackman.

Midfielder Ryan Fredericks has arrived on loan from Tottenham Hotspur and Belgian striker Jelle Vossen from Genk.

And Boro have signed Dutch pace merchant Yanic Wildschut from Heerenveen.

Vossen has a good goalscoring record, and the big question for Boro fans is whether Karanka will go two up front (he could also choose Bamford), having previously played Spaniard Kike as a lone operator.

At the other end of the pitch, Karanka must decide whether to stick with another Spaniard, Tomas Mejias, between the sticks or go with Blackman, who has been away with England Under 21s but has yet to make a first-team appearance at club level.

Whoever keeps goal for Boro, the Town faifthul will be keen to see four-goal top scorer Nahki Wells and James Vaughan in tandem up front as their team try to notch a second league win in match number six.

The Teessiders go into a tussle which pits rival midfielders Jacob Butterfield (Town) and Adam Clayton against their former clubs, on the back of successive league defeats.

Boro chairman Steve Gibson, whose nephew Ben Gibson could line-up in central defence, has backed Karanka financially, and will want to see his side much further up the table than their current 16th position, five places and two points above Town.