Middlesbrough v Burnley Preview - FA Cup

Fresh off the back of winning December’s Championship manager of the month, Aitor Karanka will face a different challenge this weekend in the shape of third round FA Cup tie with Burnley at the Riverside.

The Emirates FA Cup
(Picture from (www.thefa.com)

Despite Boro’s strong position at the top of the table, Karanka ensured that he would always try to put his best 11 players out on the pitch after some “really good memories in the competition last season”.

Boro face Brentford away from home in the league on Tuesday night and it would be understandable if Karanka decided to rest players after a busy Christmas period.

However after admitting that the cup was a bit of a problem last campaign, the Spaniard went on to say that squad is bigger and stronger than the one which reached the fifth round last term.

Even so that won’t stop Boro building on a squad which, over the festive period, has moved four points clear at the top of the Championship with a game in hand over the chasing pack.

“We need to bring players in but we don’t need to change a lot of things” said Karanka after losing midfielder Bruno Zuculini and defender Jack Stephens, who have returned to Manchester City and Southampton respectively following frustrating loan spells and limited first team action.

Team News

Boro have no new injury concerns but won’t be able to call upon the services of Mustapha Carayol or James Husband who secured loan deals to Leeds and Huddersfield respectively until the end of the season. Boro have also reportedly agreed to sell Yanic Wildschut to Wigan for a fee believed to be around £1 million.

Burnley are likely to be without midfielder Dean Marney due to a calf injury, while centre back Michael Duff is also doubtful with a thigh problem. Ashley Barnes and ex-Boro striker Lukas Jutkiewicz both remain out with long term injuries.

The Opposition 

After a promising start to the campaign, Sean Dyche’s side have lacked consistency over the past two months. They have slipped 10 points adrift of Boro at the top of the table, having also played a game more.

They still have some immense firepower upfront, as they demonstrated in recent 4-0 victories over Charlton and Bristol City, which could help them re-join the race for an automatic promotion place.
However against their fellow promotion rival they have come up short, losing 1-0 at the Riverside on December 15 before a resounding 3-0 defeat at Hull on Boxing Day.

Those setbacks along with some costly draws has left the Clarets looking over their shoulder at teams on the cusp of the play-offs rather than up at the sides battling for the top two.

Even so Karanka remained wary ahead of the cup showdown, while stating that the recent encounter between the two sides wouldn’t have any effect on this meeting.

One To Watch 

Burnley's Andre Gray
(Picture from www.burnleyexpress.net/)

Andre Gray 
It is unclear how many changes the two managers will make for this game, with both teams set to play league games on Tuesday night.  One thing that is clear for Sean Dyche’s side is the importance of Andre Gray who is the Championship’s top scorer with 15 league goals.

Gray was kept quiet when the side met in the league less than a month ago, as Daniel Ayala and Ben Gibson paid close attention to the 24-year-old forward. Even so other Championship defences have been considerably less successful.

Team I would Play
(Picture from www.gazettelive.co.uk)