Middlesbrough head into the Tees-Wear derby with Sunderland on Monday evening looking for the victory that they require to kick-start their season.
At a time when Boro are down in 20th position in the Championship standings, Sunderland are in the top 10 as Tony Mowbray looks to build on his positive start to life in the Stadium of Light dugout.
Match preview
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Before the start of the season, it was taken for granted that Middlesbrough were going to contend for promotion with Chris Wilder having the funds and freedom to put together his own squad at the Riverside Stadium.
However, with just six points coming from seven games, he is aware that he must start getting regular victories on the board to get the club back into the mix at the top end of the table.
In true Championship style, no team in the division have found any consistency across the opening weeks of the season, providing Boro with a window of opportunity to catapult themselves up the division.
Nevertheless, Wilder knows that a fourth league defeat of the season in the derby will lead to more criticism of a squad which remains full of quality.
While improving their defensive performances is top of the priority list, none of this group of players have scored more than twice this campaign.
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Sunderland fans would not have necessarily been expecting former Boro boss Tony Mowbray to be named as the replacement for Alex Neil.
However, a clinical second-half display against Rotherham United, leading to a 3-0 win, has gone some way to convincing supporters that he can bring success to the Black Cats.
Mowbray opted to retain the 3-4-1-2 formation which was used under Neil, and Jack Clarke and Ross Stewart were able to showcase their talent and growing confidence in contributing to all three goals.
The latter now has five strikes and three assists to his name and Sunderland will be contenders to win any match while the Scot remains in his current form.
Sunderland have lost their last five matches against Boro with their most recent success coming by a 2-1 scoreline in the FA Cup in 2012.
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Team News
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Wilder is hoping that Zack Steffen, Darragh Lenihan and Jonny Howson all shake off injury issues to take their place in the Boro starting lineup.
Liam Roberts, Anfernee Dijksteel and Dael Fry are expected to deputise should they miss out, with Paddy McNair potentially being moved into midfield.
Marcus Forss could also come into the team with Riley McGree possibly dropping down to the substitutes' bench.
Providing that he encounters no injury issues, Mowbray is likely to stick with the Sunderland XI from the Rotherham fixture.
New signings Abdoullah Ba, Edouard Michut and Amad Diallo could all feature among the replacements.
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Roberts; Dijksteel, Fry, Clarke; Jones, Mowatt, McNair, Crooks, Giles; Forss, Muniz
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; O'Nien, Batth, Cirkin; Gooch, Neil, Evans, Clarke; Pritchard; Stewart, Simms
We say: Middlesbrough 1-1 Sunderland
Mowbray will return to his former club looking to heap further pressure on Wilder, and there is a strong argument that the visitors are the favourites for this contest. However, a derby could bring the best out of Boro, leading us to predict a competitive draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
