Middlesbrough play host to Derby County on Saturday afternoon looking for the win which may move the club back into the Championship playoff positions.

While the home side are in seventh place, the visitors remain in 23rd spot, despite Tuesday's victory over Hull City moving the Rams to within four points of 21st-placed Reading.

Match preview

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On the back of the high of defeating Manchester United in the FA Cup, a trip to face promotion rivals Queens Park Rangers was always going to prove difficult for Boro.

Taking everything into consideration, Chris Wilder will be more than satisfied with a 2-2 draw at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, his team twice coming from behind to earn a share of the spoils.

Although Boro have since dropped out of the playoff spots, the point kept things ticking over in the right direction as they look to last the pace in the race for the top six.

With only five points coming from four away games, the onus is on collecting wins at the Riverside Stadium, and Boro have recorded five successive victories in the North East.

Only one of those victories - the 2-0 success against Nottingham Forest - was particularly convincing, but Wilder will be quietly delighted about the character that his players keep showing on a weekly basis.

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As far as Wayne Rooney is concerned, it has been impossible for the Derby boss to play down the ongoing exploits of his squad as they continue to battle against the odds.

Despite being deducted 21 points this season, the Rams are now within four points of moving outside of the bottom three having defeated Hull City by a 3-1 scoreline in midweek.

All three strikes came in the first 47 minutes, and it was a bounce-back result which was necessary after going three fixtures without success.

Derby have effectively turned a corner where people now expect them to overtake struggling Reading in the coming weeks, but that is perhaps the biggest obstacle that Rooney and his players face going forward.

Hope has quickly turned to expectation, regardless of their precarious position off the pitch, and Rooney will be aware of that as they bid to avoid a third successive defeat on the road.

Team News

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While Wilder has options available to him in all areas of the pitch, he may decide to name the Boro XI which started on Wednesday.

The most likely change could be Folarin Balogun starting in attack, but Riley McGree is an option if Matt Crooks or Marcus Tavernier are handed a rest.

Richard Stearman remains absent for Derby as he serves the second of a three-match ban for his recent red card at Huddersfield Town.

Krystian Bielik will be assessed after coming through 81 minutes on his first start for more than a year on Tuesday.

Barring any injury issues, Rooney may be satisfied to stick with the same Derby starting lineup, with Lee Buchanan continuing to deputise in the middle of the backline.

Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Lumley; Dijksteel, Fry, McNair; Jones, Crooks, Howson, Tavernier, Taylor; Balogun, Sporar

Derby County possible starting lineup:
Allsop; Byrne, Davies, Buchanan, Forsyth; Bielik, Bird; Ebosele, Knight, Lawrence; Plange

We say: Middlesbrough 2-1 Derby County

While Derby are on a high, facing Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium represents one of the toughest tasks in the division. With that in mind, we are backing the home side to edge this contest by the odd goal in three.

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