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England: Pogatetz free for Middlesborough debut [Thu Aug 25th, 2005]
Middlesborough defender Emanuel Pogatetz has had his ban reduced to eight weeks and could make his Barclays Premiership debut on Sunday.
The Austria international was handed a 24-week suspension by the Russian Football Union on June 29, but it has been confirmed that this had been reduced.
The 22-year-old is now available on or after August 28, with Boro taking on Charlton at The Riverside that day.
Pogatetz - a £1.8 million recruit from Bayer Leverkusen on June 28 - told his club's official website, www.mfc.co.uk: "I feel very good and am in good shape."
"It's been hard to motivate myself to just train without having any games, but the club have been great and I'm looking forward to helping the team. It's been a mentally tough few months for me, but now I'm just looking forward.
"I'm available now and I'm ready for action. If the manager wants to choose me, I can play. I'm really excited about the new season and playing in England. Hopefully we can build on the great result against Birmingham (a 3-0 win)."
PA Sport
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