Middlesbrough ramp up their preparations for the 2024-25 Championship campaign as they go head to head with Harrogate Town in a friendly on Wednesday.
Simon Weaver's men head into the midweek clash on a run of four defeats in their four warm-up matches and will be looking to bounce back from a 4-0 thrashing against Lincoln City at the weekend.
Match preview
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Weaver described Harrogate Town's performance on Saturday as their "poorest" so far this pre-season as they were on the receiving end of a 4-0 hammering versus League One side Lincoln at the Exercise Stadium.
Dylan Duffy and Sean Roughan scored inside the opening 10 minutes to set the Imps on their way before Freddie Draper and Robert Street found the back of the net in the second half to complete the rout.
Following that result, Harrogate Town have now lost each of their four friendly matches, with the first three defeats coming against fellow Yorkshire outfits Huddersfield Town, Leeds United and Sheffield United.
With the new League Two campaign fast approaching, the Sulphurites will look to quickly turn things around and gather some momentum as they aim to improve on their mid-table finish from last season.
Harrogate picked up 17 wins and lost 17 of their 46 league games last term to collect 63 points and finish 13th in the standings, seven points adrift of the promotion playoff places.
Middlesbrough, on the other hand, have picked up the pace in pre-season as they gradually approach the start of the new season in the Championship where they will be aiming to push for Premier League promotion.
While Boro enjoyed a decent 2023-24 campaign, they failed to reach the playoffs as they finished eighth in the standings, just four points off sixth-placed Norwich City in the final playoff spot.
Having kicked off pre-season with a 2-0 loss against Portuguese outfit Vitoria de Guimaraes, Middlesbrough have now won each of their subsequent three warm-up games, including a 5-3 victory over Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.
Hayden Hackney, Finn Azaz, Riley McGree, Sonny Finch and Emmanuel Latte Lath were all on target to hand Middlesbrough the win at the Eco-Power Stadium, with Luke Molyneux, Billy Sharp and Joe Ironside getting on the scoresheet for the Rovers.
Michael Carrick's men will follow Wednesday's game with a clash against Dutch outfit Heerenveen in their final friendly game on August 3, one week before welcoming Swansea City to the Riverside Stadium in their Championship opener.
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Team News
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Matty Foulds played the entire 90 minutes against Lincoln at the weekend and the 26-year-old defender could be rested on Wednesday, with Warren Burrell pushing for a starting role.
Burrell should team up with Zico Asare and Antony O'Connor in the back three while Stephen Dooley and 28-year-old Levi Sutton should combine at the centre of the park.
Up top, 35-year-old Jack Muldoon has started the last two matches and could drop to the bench here, with Sam Folarin, Joshua March and Ellis Taylor leading the attack.
Ivorian striker Lath has picked up from where he dropped off last season and the 25-year-old, who has scored in his two games in pre-season, should lead the attack once again.
Lath finished the 2023-24 campaigns with 16 goals and one assist in the Championship, with 12 goal involvements coming in the final 12 games of the season.
Daniel Barlaser came off the bench against Doncaster last time out and the 27-year-old, who made 33 league appearances last term, should be handed a starting role in midfield, alongside Australian international McGree.
Harrogate Town possible starting lineup:
Belshaw; Burrell, Asare, O'Connor; Thompson, Dooley, Sutton, Moorby; Folarin, March, Taylor
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Dieng; Engel, Clarke, Van den Berg, Agling; Barlaser, McGree; Azaz, Howson, Jones; Lath
We say: Harrogate Town 0-3 Middlesbrough
With the start of the campaign on the horizon, Harrogate will be looking to pick up spirit-lifting results and gather some momentum.
However, they are in for another tough 90 minutes against a well-drilled Middlesbrough side and we fancy Boro to secure a comfortable victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
