Rudy Gestede first pulled on a Cardiff City match shirt in the searing heat of Seville, Spain.

It was a baking hot day, the 6ft 4ins Frenchman was on trial with the Bluebirds and he fired a first half winner against Charlton in the only match played on that pre-season tour.

Gestede was a big, powerful, raw centre-forward whose style would suit manager Neil Warnock’s current team perfectly.

Warnock’s warriors love to get the ball forward, whip balls into the box and that style would give the Benin international striker service he could thrive on.

This afternoon, though, Gestede looks certain to play for Middlesbrough against Warnock’s men at Cardiff City Stadium.

He is one of three former Bluebirds players in the Boro squad, although it’s unlikely the other two, Brazilian Fabio and Greek goalkeeper Dimi Kostantopoulos, will be in the starting line-up.

Fabio is out of favour with Middlesbrough’s Welsh manager Tony Pulis, who was a Cardiff fans during his schoolboy days, and hasn’t played since Boxing Day. Konstantopoulos is likely to be on the bench.

“The quality of life is good in England. But it is cold and rains all the time – and there are few things for me to do,” says Fabio.

“I am very active, and I like going to the beach, playing volleyball and going out with friends. I have seriously thought about going back to Brazil.

“I’ve always been a Botafogo fan. It is my dream to play for them.

“Both Rafael, my brother, and I dream about playing for them.”

While Fabio sits on the sidelines, Gestede is enjoying life on Teeside. He played for Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers after leaving Cardiff and signed for Middlesbrough just over a year ago.

He scored nine goals in 63 appearances for City, earned a Championship winners medal with the Bluebirds and played in the Premier Division.

Gestede, a practicing Muslim, grew up in France and says: “I was a quiet child, I would always listen to my parents.

“I used to like sports and running, but I was always very respectful.

“I used to do gymnastics when I was young. I did it for a few years, so now I’m quite flexible.

“I also liked ninja movies and stuff like that.”

He was a regular for France under-19s, but qualified for the West Africa’s Benin through one of his parents.

Former Spurs manager Tom Sherwood took Gestede to Villa and said: “He is a player with one outstanding quality.

“He’s got more, but he’s a bully. A big threat, He’s outstanding in the air and he makes defenders scared.”

Gestede has been relegated from the Premier League with three different clubs, while he is now intent on helping ninth-place Middlesbrough launch a bid for the play-offs.

He has fond memories of his time with Cardiff – and has special thanks for former Olympic gold medal winner Darren Campbell and Craig Bellamy.

Campbell spent a lot of time working with Gestede to improve his running style, while he says: “Bellers was great and so were Kenny Miller, Robert Earnshaw, Heidar Helguson and more.

“They all went out of their way to help me.”

Gestede almost took a different direction at the start of his playing days when he preferred American Football to soccer.

He was born in Nancy and learned the basics of football playing in the street as a child, but his dad, Cyrille, played gridiron and Gestede says: “My father played for Nancy Tigers and I wanted to get involved.

“But my love for football grew after France won the World Cup in ’98 when I was 10-years-old and then the European Championships.

“I remember watching the World Cup final between France and Brazil at my grandfather’s home.

“The whole family were there and when France won we had street parties breaking out everywhere. We had some fantastic players including Zinedine Zidane, but my hero was always Thierry Henry.”

Today, at Cardiff City Stadium, will be a major physical presence for Middlesbrough. Sean Morison, Bruno Manga and Sol Bamba must be prepared for the challenge.

Cardiff City, possible: Etheridge, Peltier, Morrison, Manga, Traore, Ralls, Paterson, Grujic, Wildschut, Hoilett, Zohore.