Middlesbrough will host the first of three back to back home
games tonight when they take on Huddersfield at the Riverside.
Aitor Karanka’s men hurled themselves back into the
automatic promotion places over the weekend, thanks to Friday night’s victory
over QPR, and will now attempt to complete their quest to reach the Premier
League in the final eight games of the season.
In his pre-match press conference Karnaka remained as level
headed as ever, advising his side to ‘forget about the other two (home) games’
against Preston on Saturday and Reading the following Tuesday.
Boro’s end of season run-in is certainly easier on paper
than last year’s schedule, in which they had to travel to Bournemouth, Watford
and Norwich in their final eight matches.
That is a factor Karanka has acknowledged in recent weeks,
however he has also reiterated that it would be unwise to take any team for
granted, especially after Boro’s defeats to Rotherham and Charlton last month.
The Boro boss went on to say he is ‘optimistic’ that his team
can get over the line this time around. “We are better than we were last
season, we are more mature than we were last season and we have more experience
than we had last season” he stated with the upmost authority.
Team News
Before Boro’s trip to QPR, Karanka indicated that he had a
fully fit squad. Daniel Ayala returned from an ankle injury and came off the
bench as a second half substitute. The Spanish defender has been missed in the
past few weeks and could make his first start in two months.
Cristhian Stuani was absent from the squad which travelled
to Loftus Road after he represented Uruguay during the international break.
However the forward is expected to return for this encounter.
Huddersfield are still without midfielders Jonathan Hogg and
Kyle Dempsey who have knee and calf injuries respectively. Full back James
Husband is ineligible to play as he is currently on loan from Boro.
The Opposition
Huddersfield aren’t mathematically safe but should have
enough to avoid the drop this season. They are 18th in the table,
eight points clear of MK Dons in 22nd, with eight games remaining.
It has been a topsy-turvy season for the Terriers, at the
start of the campaign it took them seven games to win a match before they
finally beat Charlton away from home.
However their form remained sketchy and manager Chris Powell
was dismissed in October. Under new boss David Wagner their results did pick up
over the Christmas period and they have since been able to stay clear of the
bottom three.
In their last five games they have convincingly beat Reading
and Leeds 3-1 and 4-1 respectively, while losing tight matches to the likes of
Derby Burnley. On Saturday they lost 1-0 at home to Sheffield Wednesday.
One To Watch
Nahki Wells
Despite playing for a side in the bottom half of the table,
Wells is still the fourth top scorer in the Championship this season.
The agile forward has found the back of the net 15 times in
the league this campaign and scored in three of the Terriers last five away
games.
Last Time Out
Huddersfield 0
Middlesbrough 2
Middlesbrough left the John Smith’s Stadium with all three
points despite having just 25% possession back in November.
Adam Clayton opened the scoring against his former club
after just nine minutes.
Huddersfield came close to equalising when Nahki Wells hit
the bar; however the visitors sealed the points six minutes from the end when
Emilio Nsue cut in from the left to score his first goal for the club.
Team I Would Play
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| Picture From Gazette Boro |
I'd make just one change from the side which beat QPR on Friday night as the second half was some of the best attacking football Boro have played all season.
If Daniel Ayala is fully fit again he should slot back in at centre-half alongside Ben Gibson, as I think the Spainird is the best defender in the league when fit.
If there are any injury doubts over Ayala or Gibson I would have no problem keeping Tomas Kalas in the side as he has performed very well in the last few games.
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