Wanderers return to the Toughsheet Community Stadium on Friday night, as they take on Middlesborough FC under the lights and infront of the Sky Sports cameras.
The Whites are back on home soil after a week on the road seen trips to the West Midlands and Hampshire, picking up three points against Wolves and a clean sheet against Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium, picking up a point on the South Coast.
Middlesbrough take the long travel down to BL6 after a strong run of form sees them sit third in the Championship table. Kim Hellberg’s side – who have remained in the playoff places since the very first game of the season – will be looking to top the table for the first time this season as the race for automatic promotion gets into full swing. Their promotion charge fell at the final hurdle last season, as they lost late on in the playoff final to Hull at Wembley.
Our last league meeting against Middlesbrough came back in 2019, when the north-east side came away as victors that time around.
Form Guide:
Steven Schumacher’s side picked up four points from a possible six in their week away from home. The Whites last travelled to St. Mary’s, where the Wanderers came away with a well-battled point from a tough game, seeing Southampton’s 30-game league scoring record halted by the Whites.
Middlesbrough have not lost a league fixture since game week two of the Championship season, when they lost to local side Blackburn Rovers away from the Riverside. Since then, The Boro have gone unbeaten, with their last fixture – a game at home to Cardiff City – ending two-all after the visitors had taken a two goal lead.
What they say:
Steven Schumacher: “I think, obviously, all the games in this league are really tough and something for you to think about and a different challenge in every single one, but when you get a couple of good results and a couple of decent performances on the bounce, then it gives everybody a bit of confidence. It’s a slightly shorter week going into a Friday night game, but we’re looking forward to it.
“We’re looking forward to it. It’ll be a really good game of football again. You know, two teams will try and go about in their own different ways. It should be exciting. I would imagine there’s going to be goals in it as they’re involved in games with high scoring goals and outcomes. Being live on Sky, being on a Friday night and in front of our home crowd with the amount of tickets that we’ve sold all adds to it.”
Kim Hellberg: “It’s been difficult to beat us and I think that’s a lot about different things. We’re good. Mainly, I think it’s about we’re good. Good football side, create a lot of chances, concede very few. So I think it’s that and then of course, how the players train, how they fight in those moments and how they want things in terms of running to the right spaces all the time.
“It’s always a disappointment and frustration over a lot of different things. Of course you want to win the games, you want to win every game. And in the moments there can always be frustration that you don’t win games, I think that’s fair. I think there’s more things to being happy about than it is to be frustrated about.”
Who to Watch:
Wanderers fans will know all too well the danger of winger Amario Cozier-Duberry. The 21-year-old winger joined Steven Schumacher’s on-loan last summer, where he picked up eight goals and twelve assists in 34 games for the Wanderers, also picking up a goal and assist in our successful playoff campaign last season. Joining Boro on loan for this season, he has gone on to contribute two goals and three assists in six appearances thus far.
Steven Schumacher’s side will likely have their hands full with Will Lankshear too, having notched up nine goals so far this season, leaving him at the top of the goalscoring charts heading into Friday night. The striker signed from Tottenham Hotspur this summer, after he made a clear impression during his loan spell with Oxford United last season, picking up twelve goals as he made 47 appearances across all competitions.
Team News:
Jayden Nelson picked up a groin injury in a midweek U21s fixture, which is set to rule him out for approximately 6 weeks. There are no other fresh injury worries for Steven Schumacher to content with.
Kim Hellberg has said that striker David Strelec is set to return to training on Monday for the north-east side, but is out for the fixture against Wanderers on Friday night. They are also set to remain without defender Alfie Jones – who’s injury forced him to withdraw from Canada’s national team prior to the last international break – and is still several weeks away from fitness after a calf strain sustained during their win against Norwich.
Kick-Off:
Friday, 23rd October, 8pm.
Referee:
Simon Hooper
Tickets & Wanderers TV:
Over 25,000 of you will be joining us under the lights, as we take on Boro at the Toughsheet Community Stadium! Help us bring the noise, and back us at home for the first time in a week.
Buy your match tickets HERE!
For those who can’t make it to the match, we will be streaming the game to select regions and territories on Wanderers TV due to being selected for Sky Sports and international broadcast. Please check your eligibility by clicking HERE.
For those based outside of these selected regions, you can follow along from home with our match commentary, as John McGinlay and Pete Smith take you through the action at the Toughsheet Stadium. To buy an audio pass, click HERE.