Join us for Friday's Middlesbrough news and views.
Today, we bring you the all the build-up to Saturday's trip to Ewood Park to face Tony Mowbray's Blackburn Rovers.
Both Blackburn and Boro are still looking for their first win of the Championship season.
Boro will come up against plenty of familiar faces, including Stewart Downing and Danny Graham.
We'll hear more from Jonathan Woodgate ahead of the game today and get the latest on the injury front.
We'll also look ahead to Dael Fry's return, with the defender set to play for Boro's Under-23s tonight.
And there's the latest from elsewhere in the Championship.
Join Dominic Shaw for Boro updates throughout the day.
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We’ll have live updates from Bishop Auckland tonight as Dael Fry makes his return to action. Philip Tallentire will be there for that.
And we’ll obviously be live from Ewood Park tomorrow with match build-up, updates and reaction.
Here’s today’s recap:
- Tony Mowbray speaks at length about Woodgate & living on Teesside HERE.
- After time to reflect, Woodgate took 5 positives from Crewe game HERE.
- Woodgate’s delight as Fry takes massive step towards Boro return HERE.
- Blackburn verdict on the 5 ex-Boro men in Tony Mowbray’s squad HERE.
- Ex-Boro keeper Lonergan set for shock Liverpool debut HERE.
Birmingham boss's tips for top six
Birmingham have made a decent start to the season, picking up four points from two tough games against Brentford and Bristol City.
Blues boss Pep Clotet fancies both of those sides to be in the top six mix come the end of the season.
“That’s one thing that the Championship always is, competitive,” he told Birmingham Live.
“We never know, I do think West Brom will finish in the play-offs and I do think Leeds will finish around there as well.
“I do think Bristol and Brentford will be there as well, this is just what I think. The Championship always proves you wrong, so it is better not to think much and take a mentality like we are doing here and take it game by game.”
“We know Brentford away is one of the toughest games in the Championship and Bristol City is one of the toughest opponents to have at home.
“I really like that team, I think Saturday they made a very good game.”
Pundit fancies a narrow Boro win
David Prutton reckons Boro will do the job tomorrow - just.
He’s going for a 1-0 away win in his Sky Sports predictions.
That’d do nicely.
After time to reflect, Woodgate took 5 positives from Crewe game
After time for reflection, Jonathan Woodgate took five positives from Middlesbrough’s midweek Carabao Cup disappointment.
The head coach was brutally honest in his post-match assessment, describing Boro’s display against Crewe as “terrible” and “appalling”.
But he did pick out Ashley Fletcher, Paddy McNair and Nathan Wood for praise in the immediate aftemath.
Now the dust has settled, he’s again praised the trio and also talked about a couple of other plus points to come from the game.
That’s HERE.
Mowbray speaks at length about Woodgate & living on Teesside
Some quality stuff from Mogga on Woodgate and living on Teesside.
Mowbray has been talking to the Lancashire Telegraph ahead of tomorrow’s game.
“I support Woody as much as I can. Some people will say ‘Jonathan Woodgate, brilliant’ and others will be ‘well he’s never done it, it’s a gamble’. But you have to start somewhere and your career dictates it.
“Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney is tip-toeing in to it, he’s played for Real Madrid, got to a Champions League semi-final with Leeds United, played for Tottenham.
“Has he earned the right to have a go? I’d say so.
“I watched his interview after the Luton game (3-3 draw) and could see the rawness of the emotion. He just loves football.
“I just hope he feels like that in six months time, 12 months time, because he will have felt what it’s like to lose and to win, to draw, how the emotions can rip your life to bits or feel like king of the castle.
“You understand that you work hard so that success feeling, that victory feeling is something you feel a lot more than the desolation of defeat.”
There’s more HERE.
Fry set for action tonight
What a boost for Jonathan Woodgate and Boro: Dael Fry is closing in on a return to first team action.
He’ll play for the Under-23s against Stoke tonight at Bishop Auckland and Woodgate will be in attendance.
“I’m going to watch Dael play at Bishop Auckland.
“He’s playing 60 minutes, and I’m going to watch that before I travel across to Blackburn.
“It’ll be a huge step forward. I purposefully haven’t rushed Dael because, as I’ve said before, I had a time when I had a thigh injury. It’s hamstring with him, but it’s a similar injury with the tendon.
“I don’t want to rush things and spoil his career. We’ve taken a lot of time now, but he’s ticked a lot of boxes in training and done a lot of sprinting.
“The best way to rehabilitate a hamstring is sprinting, especially towards the end of the process. It’s going to be great to have Dael back.
“He’s a really good player. I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, but he’s a really, really good player.
“I’m sure in the future, whatever he does in the next four or five years, he’s going to have a really successful career. So obviously I’m looking forward to having him back.”
There’s more HERE.
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A happy Friday to you.
