Boro hope it was just a blip!

Middlesbrough come to the Ricoh Arena on Saturday still smarting from a 5-0 defeat handed out by West Brom last weekend.

‘We’re scoring goals and we were defending well before the game on Saturday. We need to keep that going,’ skipper David Wheater told BBC Tees.

‘We just need to concentrate on the next game now, and work hard in training towards that game,’ the defender, 22, told BBC Tees.

Gary O’Neil is fit to play for the visitors afetr missing the Albion clash while Emanuel Pogatetz and Dider Digard returned to action for ‘Boro’s reserves in midweek.

The two sides’ only other meeting at the Ricoh was an exciting FA Cup tie in January 2006, a 1-1 draw witnessed by over 28,000 at the new stadium.

Gareth Southgate played himself in that match. Now boss at the Riverside Stadium he knows that the pressure on him, eased after relegation last season by a good start to the current campaign, will be back on with another couple of defeats.