Middlesbrough (a) preview - Decisions decisions

Town travel north to the Riverside Stadium as we take on Middlesbrough tomorrow night just three days after travelling south to the Valley. Fans who made it to both matches will have totalled 590 miles by the time they return home to Huddersfield tomorrow evening. Having snatched a draw from the grasp of defeat against Charlton it felt like we'd taken three points rather then one, and a performance as committed as the one we gave on Saturday would be welcomed by all.

Charlton looked to have taken all three points on Saturday having gone 1-0 up in the second half against 10 men after Keith Southern was harshly sent off. That wouldn't have told the whole story though as Town were by far the better team up until the red card incident and remained in the game even with a one man disadvantage. The character shown by the team was outstanding and we thoroughly deserved the point we got when Adam Clayton calmly converted a penalty in the 88th minute.

Keith Southern was harshly sent off against Charlton

Southern's red card not only forced us to play with ten men for an hour on Saturday but it also means we'll now miss the big man for the next three games (presuming an appeal fails). Add to that Adam Clayton picking up his 5th booking of the season against Charlton and we face another uphill battle tomorrow night without our two best central midfielders. Oliver Norwood has been well below par recently but will be the only midfielder certain to start against Middlesbrough - who partners him in the middle of the park is open for debate.

While suspension problems are hampering our midfield, injury problems continue to hamper our forward options. Neither Jermaine Beckford or James Vaughan travelled to London at the weekend and both are considered doubts for tomorrows game also. Lee Novak is adequate cover at this level but depending on him to start games is something we don't want to do too often, the sooner Beckford and Vaughan put their injury troubles behind them the sooner we'll offer more of a goal threat.

Town could start tomorrows match with four key players sidelined through injury or suspension. That's not the best situation to be in, especially against Middlesbrough who have won the last six times they've faced us. Out of 82 league meetings it's quite even with Boro winning 35 and Town winning 30, but in recent meetings it's our opposition who've come out on top. We haven't beat Boro since new years day 1986 - with so many players potentially missing it's hard to see that changing tomorrow night.

Lukas Jutkiewicz is Boro's top goalscorer with five league goals

Boro's good form against Town was replicated by their league form recently until they suffered defeat in their last two games. Before defeats against Cardiff and then Bristol City this past weekend Boro had gone eight league games unbeaten, a run which saw them top the table at the beginning of the month. They now sit 4th in the table after their recent blip but still possess a very good home record with a 67% win ratio at the Riverside Stadium.

The man who'll lead the line against us tomorrow night is well known by Town fans. Lukas Jutkiewicz played seven games for us on loan from Everton and is remember more for his petulance when being subbed against Leeds than his goalscoring ability. However, a successful loan spell at Motherwell and a decent stint at Coventry were enough for Boro to spend a considerable sum for his services. He netted only twice in 19 appearances last season but currently tops Boro's scoring charts with five goals in nine games.

It's not just Jutkiewicz we need to look out for though, Boro have other attacking options in Scott McDonald, Marvin Emnes and Ishmael Miller while the likes of Nicky Bailey and Emmanuel Ledesma can pop up with goals from midfield. Despite their attacking options Boro did concede three goals at home to Bristol City at the weekend, and they will no doubt be weaker at the back without the considerable talents of former Real Madrid defender Jonathan Woodgate who remains injured.

What team Simon Grayson picks to face Middlesbrough tomorrow night is anyone's guess, given our current situation with injuries and suspensions he has some very tough decisions to make. I think our back four pick themselves at the minute in front of Smithies (assuming we play four at the back) but who plays in front of the defence is where the game will be won and lost. The team I'd start with is below:

Considering the lack of options in midfield I was tempted to suggest playing 3-5-2 but I really don't rate Anthony Gerrard who would probably play in that system. I'd stick Scott Arfield in the middle of the park with Norwood and play Ward and Hammill on the wings with Scannell likely to also miss out through injury. I do expect Beckford to be passed fit but if he is unavailable for selection I'd put Robinson in the midfield and play Arfield behind Novak. I'm intrigued by both Murray Wallace and Chris Atkinson but I doubt either would be thrown in at the deep end tomorrow night.

Tomorrow night was always going to be a tough match but with Southern and Clayton missing as well as Beckford and Vaughan battling against injuries it will be even tougher. The character shown when down to ten men on Saturday was brilliant but we'll need all of that and a bit more if we're going to come away with anything against a decent Middlesbrough outfit. I'm going for a narrow home win but hope to be proved wrong again as I was this past weekend.