Birmingham v Middlesbrough Preview

Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka insists he is feeling ‘calm’ ahead of his sides final two fixtures this season, which will determine whether they are playing Premier League football next campaign.

Boro are locked in a three way tussle at the top of the Championship with Burnley and Brighton, all of which have 87 points with two to play.

Karanka’s men have the chance to move ahead in tonight’s game away at Birmingham, while there promotion challengers have to wait until Monday to play their penultimate fixtures.

But whatever happens this bank holiday weekend, the permutations will all be decided on the final day of the season when Boro host Brighton at the Riverside. Defeat for either side would more than likely see them slip into the unpredictability of the play-offs, though Karanka maintains he only thinking about today’s game.

“I don’t want to think or don’t have time to think about the play-offs or the Premier League” said the Boro boss “ the players are really really calm and are looking forward to the remaining games”.

Karanka was also wary about underestimating a Birmingham side who are 9th in the table and can no longer make the play-offs.

The Spaniard referred back to Boro’s last minute winner against Bolton and last Saturday’s goalless draw at home to Ipswich to make the point that there are no easy games in this division.

Team News

Boro have no new injury worries ahead of tonight’s game, however the fitness of left back George Friend remains unclear.

Friend limped off with a hamstring injury in Boro’s draw at Burnley and missed the game with Ipswich last Saturday. Karanka confirmed yesterday that he is ‘still waiting’ on the full backs condition.

Birmingham are likely to be without goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak who broke his nose against Huddersfield last weekend. Winger Jacques Maghoma and forward Jon Toral are also expected to miss the match with ankle and hamstring injuries respectively.

Full back Paul Caddis sustained a calf injury in training but could still feature. Midfielder Maikel Kieftenbeld appears to have recovered from a thigh injury which prevented him from playing last weekend.

The Opposition

The season is finishing with a splutter for Birmingham, who have won just one of their last 10 games and have slipped 10 points off the final play-off spot in recent weeks.

Despite their current position of ninth in the table, winger David Cotterill said that the Blues have underachieved this season. That is a testament to the work manager Garry Rowett has done since he took the job in October 2014, back then Birmingham were 23rd in the league following an 8-0 defeat to Bournemouth.

Up until early March this campaign had been a promising one for Birmingham, as they had spent most of the season lingering in and out of the top six. However some narrow defeats in the past few months have derailed their play-off hopes and there may be an eye or two already looking towards next season.

One To Watch

Clayton Donaldson

Boro fans may remember the 32-year-old striker as he scored the opener when the sides played out a 1-1 draw at St Andrews last season.

He often leads the line on his own in a 4-2-3-1 formation, similar to Boro’s, and his pace and power can cause defenders all sorts of problems.

Donaldson missed the goalless draw at the Riverside earlier in the campaign but is Birmingham’s top scorer with 11 league goals, the last of which came against Preston in the Blues last home game.

Last Time Out

Middlesbrough 0 Birmingham 0

To two sides played out a goalless draw back in December on wet and miserable day at the Riverside.

Boro had the better chances in the opening exchanges and almost took the lead when Grant Leadbitter hit the post.

Michael Morrison could have won it for the visitors but headed wide from a set piece late on. The match finished in dramatic fashion when David Nugent was sent off for throwing Maikel Kieftenbeld to the floor in stoppage time.

Team I Would Play

(Picture from Gazette Boro)

With two games to go and no injuries the team should pick itself at this stage of the season.

With the exception of Friend, who is an injury doubt, I think many people would agree that this is Boro's strongest side and is the one Karanka should pick when everyone is fit.