It’s a visit to one of the league’s promotion contenders on a Friday night following the second international break of the season as Town make the trip to the Riverside.

It was all change in the managerial hotseat for Middlesbrough over the summer as Michael Carrick departed and was replaced by former Luton boss Rob Edwards and it’s not taken him long to turn them into a formidable force.

They’re currently sat in second place in the table but following a run of five wins and three draws, they suffered their first defeat of the season last time out, losing 1-0 to Portsmouth away from home.

That follows back-to-back draws in what could be an early blip in their form. They’ll be hoping to right the mini-slump as soon as they can.

Goalkeepers

Seny Dieng has been out injured since January and despite stepping up his training is likely to still be out for this one. In his absence Sol Brynn has been deputising and has managed four clean sheets, a feat that is largely down to his team’s defensive efforts rather than any individual excellence, as shown by the fact that he’s only had to make 11 saves so far this season.

Thirty-eight-year-old John McLaughlin who despite having eight clubs has never moved for a transfer fee, is currently the back-up keeper having been released by Swansea in the summer

Defenders

There’s plenty of experience in the Boro backline in what was a back five up until the 0-0 draw with Stoke where Edwards switched to a four.

When I’ve watched their games it operated more like Town’s hybrid formation from their previous Championship season with Luke Ayling filling the Axel Tuanzebe role.

The 34-year-old is in the form of his career having moved on from Leeds and provides plenty of experience and the tactical familiarity in there, having played at both right-back and centre-back in his career.

That allows Callum Brittain, who was signed from Blackburn, to fly down the right wing and do more attacking than he does defending, while Newcastle loanee Matthew Targett provides a similar sort of threat down the left. He joined late in the window but has already made an impact with a goal and an assist so far.

George Edmundson had ousted Dael Fry in one of those centre-back spots but caught a sore one and ended up with a black eye a few games ago and was withdrawn very early on against Stoke with a hamstring injury so it’s likely that rumoured Town target Fry will be back in for this one. He scored the only goal of the game in the season opener against Swansea.

Alongside him will be a former teammate of Jacob Greaves in the form of Hull defender Alfie Jones, who made the switch to Boro over the summer and has started every single game so far this season.

That’s one of the most solid backlines in the Championship and they also have Samuel Silvera, who has been turned into a flying left wing-back to come off the bench too.

The Australian international, who spent last season on loan at Blackpool, has come back and looks set to be an important part of the squad.

Darragh Lenihan and Alex Bangura are both part of the defensive unit but both are suffering from injury issues.

Midfield

Hayden Hackney was the star of the show so much so last season that Town were willing to pay £20 million for the youngster but Boro have another talent alongside him who’s now coming into his own in Aidan Morris.

The 23-year-old American is the deeper of the two and performs the tough-tackling, ball-winning activities of the pair, averaging 3.3 tackles per game. That allows Hackney to drift and pick up the ball in spaces that make him such a threat, and he’s already contributed two assists and a goal so far this season.

Boro turned to the loan market late on in the season to pick up Alan Browne from Sunderland to add some more grit and experience. He joined the pair in a midfield three against Stoke but is also a very handy loan option to have. The former Preston stalwart has 372 appearances at Championship level.

Alongside that experience is the exuberance of youth in Abdoulaye Kante, signed from Troyes, to provide the defensive cover and Sverre Nypan, on loan from Manchester City, with the latter a member of the Norway U21 squad that is loaded with potential. He’ll swap with Hackney on occassions but also has the ability to play out on the wing.

Riley McGree, another midfield option, won’t be available as he recovers from a long term injury.

Forwards

Ahead of the midfield, Edwards’s preferred pairing behind the striker so far has been Morgan Whittaker and Tommy Conway. Surprisingly, Whittaker is yet to score for Boro since joining from Plymouth in 2025, operating on the right of the pair and looking to cut in on his favoured left foot. He does, however, have two assists.

By contrast, Conway has really found his feet at the Riverside since leaving Bristol City. He notched 13 goals last campaign and already has a couple this one.

Conway was operating largely as the central striker at the start of the season before the late deadline day addition of David Strelec from Slovan Bratislava. The Slovakian international has an impressive goalscoring record at international level with seven in 28 and is already off the mark for Boro, netting in the 2-1 victory over West Brom.

They also have strength on the bench. Delano Burgzorg caused Town all sorts of problems when he was at Hudderfield and although he’s had limited this season, he’s one of the league leaders for carry threat, with his 0.41 threat generated putting him alongside some of the league’s top players like Stephy Mavididi and Josh Murphy.

Another man who is in form off the bench is Mamadou Kaly Sene, who was another late signing in the summer window, this time from FC Lausane Sport in Switzerland. He scored the winner against West Brom and the equaliser against Southampton in back-to-back games to add to the three goals he scored in the Swiss Super League and one in the Europa Conference League already at the start of the season. With him and Strelec they have significant firepower at the top of the pitch now.

The final man to mention in that attacking unit is winger Sontje Hansen, who also has a goal to his name this season as Boro have really shared the load. He’s more of an out-and-out winger and provides Edwards with options should he want to change formations in game.

The Teams

How do you follow-up a win against your local rivals? Ideally with an unchanged team. However, with Sammie Szmodics pulling out of Ireland duty and Sindre Walle Egeli similarly not featuring for Norway U21s, there could be further opportunities for Kasey McAteer and Chuba Akpom in this one.

The other big decision is around Cedric Kipre or Jacob Greaves. I predicted that Greaves would come back in for Bristol City but didn’t see Kipre’s return for Norwich coming.

It should be Kipre’s shirt to lose but I'm wondering if Greaves may be better suited to this away game with Kipre coming back in for Charlton.

For Boro, there was some rotation in the multiple game week. The back five and goalkeeper look to be stable as do the two in front so it all comes down to the front three.

I’m going with Strelec, Whittaker and Conway but Nypan has definitely forced himself into the equation in place of Whittaker in recent weeks.

Morris has been involved in a late Wednesday international game for the United States but given his importance I can see him still starting this one.

Prediction

I predicted a draw last weekend and we finally got that elusive win so I guess I’ll go for another one this week. Middlesbrough will be a tough opponent but their start to the season is now showing that it could be overperformance rather than a sustained title charge.

If you can win your home games and pick up a point away from home you’ll be alright so I’ll go for a 1-1 draw.

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