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Jamal Blackman is favourite to win a three-way fight for the Boro goalkeeping gloves.

The 20-year-old Croydon-born Chelsea goalie was Aitor Karanka’s final deadline day signing on Monday.

He’ll take Jason Steele’s place in the first team squad but, unlike Steele, he’s unlikely to be the third-choice keeper during his loan spell, which ends in January.

The fact is Chelsea haven’t allowed Blackman to move to Boro only to see the England Under-21 international sit on the bench for four months.

At the very least he’ll be given an opportunity to show he’s good enough to play in the first team.

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Tomas Mejias’s unconvincing start to the current campaign has forced Karanka to reconsider his goalkeeping options.

The Boro head coach admitted before last weekend’s game against Preston that he would revisit the issue of who he would pick in goal during the international break.

He also urged the fans to get behind Mejias but every time the summer signing from Real Madrid gathered a cross or saved the ball, loud, ironic cheers could be heard in the Riverside Stadium.

Dimi Konstantopoulos did little wrong last season when he was called into the team in March for an extended run when Mejias was injured at Sheffield Wednesday.

But Karanka has only used him in the Capital One Cup so far this season.

poll loading Which of the three goalkeepers should be Boro's No.1? 0+ VOTES SO FAR Tomas Mejias Dimi Konstantopoulos Jamal Blackman

Blackman is clearly highly rated at Chelsea. He signed a new five-year deal in June and was called into Gareth Southgate’s England Under-21 squad for the first time last week.

He has already represented England at under-16, under-17 and under-19 levels.

Blackman helped Chelsea to win the FA Under-21 Premier League play-offs last season, making two crucial saves in a penalty shoot-out semi-final victory over Manchester City. He also helped the Blues win the 2012 FA Youth Cup.

After his loan was confirmed, he said on Twitter: "Happy to have joined Boro till Jan. Can’t wait to get started."

Blackman’s arrival takes Boro’s quota of Chelsea loan players to three, the others being Kenneth Omeruo and Patrick Bamford.