Fresh off the departure of manager Tim Walter, Hull City will travel to the Riverside Stadium on Saturday to take on Middlesbrough.
Heading into their first game following the German's dismissal, the visitors find themselves in the bottom three of the Championship table while their hosts remain in the final playoff place despite also suffering a midweek defeat.
Match preview
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Middlesbrough return to the Riverside Stadium on Saturday aiming to bounce back to winning ways and strengthen their position in the Championship playoff spots, having seen a fine run of form halted in midweek.
Aiming to win promotion to the Premier League under the management of Michael Carrick at the third time of asking, they currently sit sixth having earned 27 points from their first 17 outings, winning eight of those while suffering three defeats.
The three most recent triumphs came consecutively in style either side of the November international break, initially bouncing back from a 3-0 loss to Coventry City by dishing out 4-1 and 5-1 beatings to Queens Park Rangers and Luton Town respectively.
On their return to action last weekend, Boro made it three straight wins and 16 goals in that time by thrashing Oxford United 6-2, with Emmanuel Latte Lath hitting a hat-trick, Finn Azaz netting a brace and Tommy Conway also getting on the scoresheet, but they were unable to build any further on Wednesday, hosting Blackburn Rovers and leaving empty-handed as Dominic Hyam scored the only goal of the game for the visitors 13 minutes from time.
Still remaining sixth in England's second tier, but only leading seventh spot on goal difference and trailing the top four by six points, Middlesbrough will be keen to put their midweek disappointment behind them and bounce back to their dangerous best with a home win at the weekend.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, travel north on the back of a loss of their own on Tuesday, stretching a winless streak to eight Championship matches.
Following the summer appointment of Tim Walter, Hull City have endured a poor start to the 2024-25 campaign, now sitting 22nd with just 15 points on the board from 17 games, triggering the dismissal of Walter on Wednesday.
His tenure was brought to an end by a run of four straight defeats within that winless period, initially falling short against Oxford United, West Bromwich Albion and Luton Town before most recently hosting Sheffield Wednesday and again coming away empty-handed, as Josh Windass opened the scoring for the visitors in the first half and Michael Smith wrapped up a 2-0 away win nine minutes from time.
That latest defeat means the Tigers remain in the drop zone heading into the weekend, albeit only trailing Cardiff City by one point and 17th-placed Coventry City by two, and now under the temporary stewardship of Andy Dawson, they will be desperate to move out of the bottom three and end their near-two-month wait for a fourth Championship win of the campaign.
Team News
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Middlesbrough continue to contend with a long injury list heading into the weekend, with Riley McGree being a fresh injury concern after their midweek defeat while goalkeeper Seny Dieng, defenders Darragh Lenihan, Rav van den Berg and Lukas Engel and midfielders Aidan Morris, Hayden Hackney, Delano Burgzorg and Finn Azaz all missed the contest.
Azaz will hope to be deemed fit to return to the attacking setup after notching up four goals and four assists in his last three Championship games, while Daniel Barlaser and Jonny Howson should continue in the engine room in Hackney and Barlaser's absence and Sol Brynn will again deputise between the sticks.
In their 4-2-3-1 shape, Tommy Conway and Liverpool loanee Ben Doak will continue in support of front man Emmanuel Latte Lath, who has moved on to seven league goals for the season by scoring five in the last four games.
Hull City are impacted by several enforced absences of their own, with Oscar Zambrano remaining suspended and Mohamed Belloumi, Liam Millar, Steven Alzate and Carl Rushworth likely continuing spells in the treatment room.
Chris Bedia will hope to displace Joao Pedro and lead the line, having been reduced to substitute appearances in each of the Tigers' last five games, while Gustavo Puerta, Abdulkadir Omur and Mason Burstow will also compete for spots after Ryan Longman, Kasey Palmer and Abu Kamara supported the lone striker on Tuesday.
Regan Slater and Xavier Simons will continue in the engine room despite competition from the returning Marvin Mehlem, while Charlie Hughes should again get the nod alongside Alfie Jones at the heart of the back four.
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Brynn; Ayling, Edmundson, Clarke, Borges; Howson, Barlaser; Doak, Conway, Forss; Latte Lath
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Pandur; Coyle, Jones, Hughes, Drameh; Slater, Simons; Omur, Puerta, Kamara; Bedia
We say: Middlesbrough 2-1 Hull City
While Middlesbrough are ravaged by injuries throughout their squad and Hull City could feel a boost from a change in management, we still see the gulf in quality being too large and back Middlesbrough to return to winning ways at the Riverside Stadium.
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