Middlesbrough visit the Hawthorns on Sunday on a run of good form that has seen them beat Chelsea and progress through to the next rounds of both the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup. Since the 4-0 home defeat to Aston Villa, Boro’ have beaten Coventry and Preston in the FA Cup, Chelsea in the Premiership and Stuttgart over two legs in the UEFA Cup. It terms of match results, however, their winning run ended on Thursday night as they lost 1-0 at home to Stuttgart, progressing to the next round on the away goals rule.

Albion fans will be hoping that Boro's exertions over the past fortnight will have a detrimental impact on their fitness, compared to that of the boys in blue and white. Middlesbrough have played three games since the last Premiership programme, while the Albion squad have been on a team-building trip to Dubai and will hopefully have come back refreshed and raring to go. A trip to Florida at the same stage of last season had the desired effect as they went on to win three of the next four games and really kick start their Great Escape.

This match is crucial for both Albion and Boro'. The visitors sit just one place and one point ahead of the Baggies, with a game in hand, and with Birmingham at home to Sunderland on Saturday, the gap to the bottom three is likely to be reduced come kick off time on Sunday. Defeat could leave Albion just three points ahead of Blues, having played a game more, with a trip to St Andrew's just a fortnight away.

Boro's only casualty of the last few weeks was Fabio Rochemback, who has damaged ankle ligaments, and he joins Morrison, Parlour and Christie on the treatment table. The loss of Rochemback will be a big blow for McLaren as he had finally been producing the sort of form that persuaded the Middlesbrough manager to bring the Brazilian international to the Riverside from Barcelona for an undisclosed sum on deadline day last August. Rochemback's place in midfield was taken by 18-year-old Lee Cattermole for the game against Stuttgart on Thursday giving him only his third start in the first team. He is another product of the Teesiders successful youth scheme that has also produced Stewart Downing, who is back in the team having spent much of the season injured. George Boateng is also back from injury, and those three are likely to be joined by Mendieta and Parnaby in a five man midfield.

At the back, Queudrue, Riggott and Southgate have also recovered from injuries recently, which has left Albion's January target Ugo Ehiogu out of the squad once again. Those three are likely to be joined by yet another product of the youth scheme, Andrew Davies, who has established himself as a regular this season.

Up front will be one of Middlesbrough's three strikers who have scored 36 goals between them this season. Yakubu, who has scored half of that total on his own, is likely to get the nod having been rested on Thursday night. Hasselbaink and Viduka will probably have to settle for a place on the bench, but they give McLaren great options should they, as we Albion fans hope, be chasing the game late on.

The team news is largely positive for Albion. The only absences through injury look to be Zoltan Gera and Steve Watson, and the return of Kanu and Kamara from Egypt is a huge boost. Robson has two real decisions to make - who to play up front, and whether to bring Kamara back into the midfield.

With Kevin Campbell having scored twice in the last two games, he would seem favourite to start, but with Kanu available again, it might not be so clear cut. Kanu and Campbell have only started the game together once all season, and that was on the opening day at Eastlands. I think that Robson sees them performing a similar job, but with different strengths. Both can hold the ball up, and both need a partner that runs the channels. Campbell's strength is obviously in the air, whereas Kanu prefers the ball at his feet. The obvious partner for both is Ellington, particularly now that Horsfield and Earnshaw have moved on, although Kamara is another option.

Kamara has yet to be employed as a striker as he has covered for the absent Gera on the wing for much of the season. While he was away, Carter was tried on both wings, but perhaps the most
successful exponent was Inamoto against Blackburn. The Japanese international played extremely well in the last match at the Hawthorns, but proved to be far less effective in the Fulham debacle and failed to track runners for a couple of the goals, although how he ended up as the defensive midfielder is less clear.

Robson also has the options of starting either Kozak or Martinez, who will hopefully be a little more settled in having spent some time away with the squad, but he is likely to keep the side fairly settled. Personally, I'd almost be tempted to give Martinez a chance in place of Clement, as he has been the weak link at the back for much of the season, but it's difficult to know how well he will be able to communicate with his teammates - only those who've seen him in training this week will really be able to make that call.

My team would be:

Kuszczak; Albrechtsen, Davies, Clement, Robinson; Kamara, Quashie, Wallwork, Greening; Ellington, Kanu.

Subs: Kirkland, Martinez, Kozak, Inamoto, Campbell.

Albion really need to win this game; Saturday's results will dictate how desperately!

Jon Want, 24th February 2006.