Ground: The Riverside.

Manager: Steve McClaren.

Nickname: Boro.

Current position: 19th

The season so far: Fulham (a) lost 3-2; Arsenal (h) lost 4-0; Leicester (a) drew 0-0; Leeds (h) lost 3-2.

Last time out: Boro 2 (Nemeth 59, Juninho 62), Leeds Utd 3 (Sakho 16, Camara 76, Viduka 89).

How they lined up: Schwarzer; Mills, Davies, Southgate, Parnaby (Stockdale 50), Mendieta, Boateng, Greening, Juninho, Job (Christie 81), Nemeth (Ricketts 87). Not used: Nash, Doriva.

Selection update: Michael Ricketts is unlikely to start but he has confirmed his recovery from a recent achilles injury and is back in the Boro squad, as is defender Chris Riggott, who has had back trouble. Ugo Ehiogu, Massimo Maccarone, David Murphy and Stuart Parnaby are all still sidelined and Franck Quedrue serves the last of a five-match ban but new signing Boudewijn Zenden is available after joining Boro on loan from Chelsea for the rest of the season and is expected to make his debut. There has been speculation on Teesside that Juninho could drop out!

Danger man: Gaizka Mendieta is tipped to become a Riverside favourite. The highly-rated Spanish international, traded from Valencia to Lazio in a £28.9 million deal two summers ago, is on a season-long loan at The Riverside with a guaranteed four-year contract to follow. A high-scoring attacking midfield player, Mendieta has a highly-impressive pedigree.

What they say: Steve McClaren has had a nightmare with injuries in the early weeks of the season but could be over the worst. "Sometimes you have spells like that with injuries," the Boro boss said. "Hopefully we're having all ours at the beginning of the season."