A WAY THROUGH THIS
MIDDLESBROUGH v SWANSEA CITY
Jonathan Way, 9 Jan 2010
Focus on the league...
This is what Boro now have to do, after their 1-0 FA cup defeat against Manchester City. With the transfer window now open, fans will be expecting Strachan to bring in the players, that we desperately need to strengthen our side, if we are to have any chance of making the play-offs.
Since last meeting the Teessiders back in August - where a 3-0 defeat left Paulo Sousa still looking for his first point - Swansea soon went on an impressive 11 match unbeaten run. With just five defeats and having beaten many of their promotion rivals, the Swans find themselves sitting comfortably in the play off places.
Column Continues Below...
Danny Coyne v Dorus de Vries
Coyne - Since coming back into the side a fortnight ago, the Welshman has clearly pumped more confidence into the way our back four play - despite us having lost our two previous fixtures. If Coyne hadn't started against City, I think we would have certainly lost by a greater margin than what we did, as he made a good save from Carlos Tevez.
Dorus de Vries - The 29-year-old, who made his 100th appearance earlier this campaign, has been a vital player for Swansea since signing on a free in 2007. It's not surprising De Vries has started every game for Sousa this season, as he has kept 13 clean sheets, averaging more than one every two matches.
Chris Riggott v Alan Tate
Riggott - Our number five has played like a rock for us in defence since returning from his ankle injury, and was deservedly awarded our man of the match against Barnsley. Hopefully Riggott can now stay fit as his experience and skill will be crucial to the team and will have a big impact on where we finish at the end of this campaign.
Tate - The former Manchester United player is one of the Swans' longest serving players, having made his loan move permanent in 2004. He also covered all positions in defence for Swansea last season, including goalkeeper. Tate will be hoping to put in a much improved performance at the Riverside.
Mark Yeates v Darren Pratley
Yeates - I think a lot of fans have been surprised how the Boro boss has not used Yeates at all in our last two fixtures, especially after he has been putting in some impressive displays of late.
Adam Johnson's early injury against Man City was the perfect time to bring on the 24-year-old, but by choosing to bring on Marvin Emnes instead, Strachan made it quite clear that he doesn't fancy him.
Pratley - Swansea's number eight made himself a legend back in November when his first two goals of the campaign earned his side all three points against rivals Cardiff. Since then, Pratley has scored three goals in his last two away games and will be looking to add to his tally this Saturday on Teesside.
Marcus Bent v David Cotterill
Bent - Having recently extended his loan spell until 16th January, the Birmingham striker now has two more games to make an impression on Teesside.
From his seven appearances to date, Bent hasn't impressed many fans as he still searches for his first goal for Middlesbrough.
The 22- year-old made his loan move from Sheffield United permanent on Thursday for a club-record fee of £600,000 after impressing manager Paulo Sousa.
Cotterill - The Welsh international, who has put in a number of man of the match displays this season, will be looking to make an immediate impact on the Swans fans.
This will be a tight fixture between two promotion rivals who have both won just nine games to date. Hopefully a second successive home league win will take Boro back into touching distance of the play-offs.
Having been unbeaten in their previous three games, I think that Swansea will hold us to a 1-1 draw this weekend to leave us floating in mid table.
