Stand-in Middlesbrough boss Steve Agnew has admitted to feeling "emotional" after failing to prevent the club's slide back into the Championship. We know where we're at, and we have two massive games to come.
Southampton's last win came over West Brom on April 8 and the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on Wednesday night means finishing inside the top 10 is now a challenge.
Southampton manager Claude Puel: "There's the possibility to finish in the first part of the table and that is very important to us".
Boro's head coach Steve Agnew is likely to be missing Daniel Ayala, Victor Valdes and former Saints midfielder Gaston Ramirez through injury. Long-term absentees Charlie Austin (shoulder) and Matt Targett (hamstring) are both back in training and with three games in eight days, the Saints boss could be tempted to utilise his returning squad members.
The Premier League match between Middlesbrough and Southampton will not be broadcast live on TV.
Middlesbrough have won only one of their last five home Premier League fixtures against the Saints.
Not only that, but with 26 goals scored in 36 Premier League games, Middlesbrough have scored the least in the league this season.
Government urged to clarify whether NHS bodies could have stopped cyber attack
In NHS Lanarkshire, non-emergency patients have been urged to stay away from its hospitals as it deals with the ransomware attack. Updating computer operating systems when prompted and maintaining up-to-date software is the best bet against ransomware attacks.
Boro haven't kept a clean sheet against Southampton at the Riverside in seven league meetings since March 1999.
Middlesbrough needed a result to stay up at Chelsea and the gulf between them was unreal.
The Teessiders play Southampton at the Riverside Stadium in the penultimate game of their season - their first since being relegated from the Premier League after facing league leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Southampton at home followed by Liverpool, before beginning the next mission to "bounce Boro back" to the Premier League.
Boro are keen to keep hold of the powerful defender, but realises that doing so could be impossible following their relegation.
Indeed, the last time this happened in all league games was November 2013 (three in a row) when Middlesbrough were in the Championship.
"If we can have a good result against Middlesbrough, we can prepare for our last two games at home with good possibilities, good intensity".
Comments