For our final home game of the season, we face 20th placed Brighton and Hove Albion in the league in an early kick off game at The Riverside Stadium. We look set to conclude a formidable Championship season under Aitor Karanka before we go to fight it out in the playoffs for a coveted place in the top flight of English football.
Pre-Match
MSS (Middlesbrough Supporters South)’s Young Player of The Season, Patrick Bamford spoke out on the official Boro site before tomorrow’s game, proclaiming:
“Everyone thought this (Brighton) would be the game that we go up, but unfortunately after what happened at Fulham it’s not to be,” said the striker.
“It’s still a big game, though. It’s about gaining momentum now to go into the Play-Offs with the full stadium and hopefully that’ll be the same with the Play-Off game.
“If we can keep up our intensity and try and think that it is the actual Play-Off game then I think that intensity will come through and that’ll treat us well for the game the week after.”
Last time out against Brighton
Last time we faced Brighton and Hove Albion; the 18th of October to be precise, we managed to extend a six game unbeaten run as goals from Lee Tomlin and Albert Adomah helped us obtain a high 3rd placed league position and extend our good form. The first, was an eye-catching Lee Tomlin goal from the edge of the box, the second was a tap in for Albert Adomah after being first to the ball seconds after Brighton goalkeeper David Stockdale had initially saved a Daniel Ayala cross into the box. Brighton did claim a goal back at home in the 88th minute when Gordon Greer managed to capitalise on a Brighton corner. It was too little too late for Brighton, however, meaning the seagulls’ run of 8 league games without a win was dramatically extended at the Amex Stadium back in October.
After our first fixture of the season against Brighton, they sat in the same 20th placed league position they sit in now! We also finished the game in 3rd, the very league position we hold going into the game on Saturday. Interestingly however, Bournemouth – a team who have now claimed the second placed league position and are therefore firmly in the Premier League next season, sat in a mere 8th placed in the league.
Team News
MSS (Middlesbrough Supporters South) Player of The Season, George Friend will miss our final game of the season as he has been given a single match ban after receiving a red card early in the second half last time out against Fulham. Undoubtedly, the left back will be missed as he has played a pivotal role for the team this season, but the player will be back and raring to go when it comes to the crucial playoff fixtures on the horizon.
Muzzy Carayol has returned to the Riverside Stadium. The player has further announced that he has received a new contract which could keep the player on Teesside for another two years. This is good news, as if Carayol was set to part with the club in the summer, we would still receive payment for the player. However, the most likely scenario is that the fan-favourite will stay on Teesside and fight it out for a first team place next season.
Form
In our last 5 games, we’ve won three games and lost two, leaving us with a total of 9 out of 15 points from our recent games. Surprisingly, however, we lost a game we were expected to win against Fulham, yet managed to beat Norwich – a team we may be yet to face again in the playoffs. We have had a disappointing away form of late, however our home form tells a different story as we have collected the three points each time out of our previous 5 games at home, meaning we’ve collected the full 15 points at home in our most recent 5 home games.
Brighton sit on 46 points and 20th placed in the League. They have lost 4 out of their very last 5 games. Even more shockingly, Brighton have only won one of their last 10 games and only claimed a single point in their last 5 games. Last time out, Brighton lost 2 – 0 to top of the table Watford, undoubtedly lowering the confidence of a team in dire form lately.
Final Thoughts
Although there is now very little resting on this final game of the season, undoubtedly the team will be wanting to finish off their highly successful season on a high and will be wanting to keep many of the 33,000 fans attending the game coming back to The Riverside for more next season with a good performance. Furthermore, the game will be crucial in building up some confidence and momentum prior to our season deciding playoff fixtures that sit so closely on the horizon.
I feel there is a good chance that Boro will be able to take all three-points on Saturday as we face an out-of-form Brighton side in a game where no real pressure is actually inflicted on us, as status as a team fighting it out in the playoffs is already firmly fixed going into this one. We will have to learn from our last game at Fulham, however, that it’s important to kill off teams early and not allow them to take a foothold un a game that in all truth we should be winning.
Whatever the result, fans look set for an exciting finish to their 2015-16 season as a crowd in excess of 33,000 flock to The Riverside to watch what looks to be a compelling fixture against league strugglers Brighton and Hove Albion.
![, Blackpool – Tangerine’s fans storm field – stop game [updated 03 May]](https://cdn.the72.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Bpool.jpg)
