Middlesbrough and Sunderland will be looking to boost their Championship playoff hopes when they meet in the latest chapter of the Tees-Wear derby on Sunday.
While Sunderland occupy seventh place in the standings compared to 11th for Boro, the home side trail by just three points and possess a game in hand.
Match preview
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Throughout January, Michael Carrick was left with the conundrum of balancing a Championship playoff bid with trying to successfully negotiate the test of Chelsea in the EFL Cup semi-finals.
That was particularly the case having established a 1-0 lead from the first leg, but Boro gifted their Premier League opponents several goals in the second fixture to lose 6-2 on aggregate.
Carrick and his players have had plenty of time to stew on that disappointment with no game on their schedule since January 23, yet they should feel refreshed to resume their promotion efforts.
Before the heavy defeat at Stamford Bridge, Middlesbrough had collected four points from matches with Millwall and Rotherham United respectively.
Although they have since dropped down to 11th position, Boro sit just five points adrift of fifth-placed West Bromwich Albion ahead of the 153rd Tees-Wear derby.
Sunderland have prevailed in just one of the last nine fixtures between the two rivals, that being as recently as January last year when they won 2-0 at the Stadium of Light.
Their last triumph at the Riverside Stadium came almost 12 years to the day in the FA Cup, and Michael Beale will hope for a similar performance as he bids to win over supporters who have not backed his appointment.
The jeers that accompanied the 1-0 defeat at home to Hull City - a third successive defeat - were perhaps understandable, but Sunderland were able to bounce back with a much-needed 3-1 success over Stoke City eight days later.
Beale's squad have lost six of 14 away games this campaign, yet they make the short trip to the Riverside with Boro having lost the same amount of games on familiar territory.
Team News
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Although Morgan Rogers has departed for Aston Villa, Carrick could hand a Boro debut to loanee Luke Thomas at left-back.
Isaiah Jones is expected to miss out again with a hamstring injury, which could see Marcus Forss deputise on the right flank.
Goalkeeper Seny Dieng is also in line to return between the sticks after Senegal were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Barring any injury issues, Beale may be prepared to stick with the Sunderland XI that started against Stoke.
That would see Mason Burstow retain his spot down the centre of the attack after finally scoring his first Championship goal for the Black Cats.
Leo Hjelde, Callum Styles and Romaine Mundle all arrived before the end of the January transfer window and could feature on the substitutes' bench.
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Dieng; Ayling, Fry, Clarke, Engel; Barlaser, Hackney; Forss, Crooks, Azaz; Greenwood
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Seelt, Ballard, O'Nien, Hume; Ba, Ekwah, Neil, Bellingham, Clarke; Burstow
We say: Middlesbrough 1-1 Sunderland
With these two teams among the most inconsistent in the Championship, this is a difficult match to predict. Sunderland will fancy their chances of building on the win over Stoke, yet we think that Boro will have enough quality in their ranks to earn a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
