Lita has been training on his own to maintain general fitness levels, but has not played any pre-season football.
Leroy Lita: “It was frustrating for me at Reading and I was looking to get away for a long time.
“I trained hard and I was happy to go on loan to Norwich. I enjoyed that but it cemented my determination to move on.”
With defender Rhys Williams being Boro’s only regular goalscorer in pre-season with four goals, Southgate clearly needs Lita in his squad as quickly as possible.