Hellberg relishing extended international break

A longer international break can help the quality of the Championship as well as give new players a chance to acclimatise, according to Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg. This weekend wil be the final games for Championship clubs for three weeks as they take a break while four Nations League fixtures are played but Hellberg is relishing the chance to take stock. Boro have played 10 fixtures in league and cup since their 2025-26 season kicked off on 7 August but, after Saturday's game at Birmingham, will not take to the field again until they host Wolves on 10 October. "It's been crazy where we've had the fourth week in a row with a game in the middle of it but this is the last game before the international break which will be good for us," he told BBC Radio Tees. "When you have so many players coming in in such a short amount of time and you're still playing games, that's been the biggest challenge and when you travel and play games all the time it's difficult for the players to prove themselves." Middlesbrough are third in the table and may have the chance to go top with a win at St Andrew's on Saturday (15:00 BST) and the Boro boss is hoping after the weekend a rest will help him strengthen his side's chances of promotion. "It's a bit longer than usual so you to treat it a bit differently which can benefit the league. It's been full-on for the teams, especially the ones doing well in the cup who have been playing a lot of games," he said. "We're going into a crazy period of time around Christmas so hopefully it can benefit the quality of the league in general and for us it comes at a good time. "We can train the players and get them up to fitness and give the new players a possibility to get in the team and work through their fitness in training." Listen to more Middlesbrough interviews and content on BBC Sounds. [BBC]