Against Middlesbrough, Birmingham City is expected to begin without a seven-figure star as Wayne Rooney considers his options

Wayne Rooney may need to consider an alternative strategy to defeat Middlesbrough in light of the impending return of a Birmingham City player.

Prior to his first Birmingham City match as manager, Wayne Rooney must make a difficult choice.

This weekend, on Saturday, October 21, the Blues travel to Riverside Stadium to play Middlesbrough in the Championship. Rooney takes on Michael Carrick, a former teammate at Manchester United, in the inaugural match of his new era.

In addition to the fact that he will be without numerous players due to injuries—Keshi Anderson, Tyler Roberts, Lee Buchanan, and others—he now has to decide which players to leave off the roster.

During the international break, Curacao’s top player, Juninho Bacuna, was in action for Birmingham. They defeated Trinidad & Tobago 5-3 but fell 2-1 to Panama, thus the 26-year-old played twice with mixed results. During his 173 minutes of action in the Southern Caribbean, he assisted in the opening game and scored a penalty against Trinidad.

Although Bacuna’s devotion to his country is great, it can interfere with his weekend availability. Curaco’s victory over Trinidad began around 1:00 am UK time, meaning that early on Wednesday morning, the game would have ended at roughly 3.30 am.

The midfield player will now return to Birmingham, but as the crow flies, that’s a 7400-mile trip. Although it’s unclear how he will go back to the Midlands, this is by no means the best way to be ready for the match this coming weekend.

To aid in their preparations, a number of teams choose to travel to the game one day ahead of schedule. Teams in the second tier often travel at midday and arrive at a hotel, where they will educate their players on the opposition and get them ready for the game.

Should Bacuna return on Wednesday and train on Thursday, he might only have one training day left if that were the case. It could be a good idea to schedule a training session for either Friday in Birmingham or while they’re in the Middlesbrough region.

After playing at Marinique five days prior, Bacuna’s time during the most recent international break was limited to a 19-minute cameo against Watford. That choice was made then by John Eustace, but going forward, Rooney will be the one to make it.