[themaclad]

A second visit of the season to Deepdale for the Boro this time though they are sending the first team, so we may have a slightly harder game than the League Cup tie. Saw a bit of Boro's match on Saturday at Brentford as with a Pulis side defensively very strong, although not prolific in attack although out ex Hugill is starting to knock them in, they have not lost since early October and on Saturday had Assombalonga on the bench he cost 15 million, we had Graham Burke on ours.
Second in the league Boro will be there abouts at the end of the season however all is not happiness on Teeside mainly due to the style of football he plays, after witnessing over the years some of the Gillingham sides we used to play so can sympathise a bit with the Boro support but it's Catch 22 for them, if he gets promotion then they may be happy



Injuries are starting to kick in again for us with Robinson now out for a considerable length of time possibly linked to the stone age training schedule by the now ex manager of the Republic of Ireland manager, so it's up to the others now to step up to the plate tomorrow though is an extremely difficult game.
Preston North End manager Alex Neil has had plenty of selection problems this season with more and more injury issues thrown his way, and he is hoping the remaining fit players can step up to the plate.
Preston North End manager Alex Neil has had plenty of selection problems this season with more and more injury issues thrown his way.
But he is hoping that after the latest blow, with Callum Robinson ruled out for a minimum of three months, that someone else can step up to the plate and take the chance that will come their way.
“That is going to be a big part of it now for us,” said the gaffer. “We have had lads who have probably been a bit frustrated that they have not been given enough time. They have been accepting of the fact that the other lads have been doing well and they need to bide their time, but that time has now come for a lot of these lads to step up and show us what they can do.
“I am excited for them. I am disappointed by the fact that we haven’t maybe got the strength in depth now behind them to make sure even when they do fatigue, we have other guys to help them, so we are going to rely on these boys to step up to the mark now and show us what they can do.
To be fair, over the season, sporadically when they have had opportunities, they have done well and now they have a chance to do it consistently. I am confident that they can step up.”

The test for whoever makes the starting line-up on Tuesday is Tony Pulis’ side, who moved back into the automatic promotion places with a 2-1 win at Brentford on Saturday evening.

And the PNE chief is expecting a different game to the recent home challenges his side have faced: “They are going to be a physical team,” he continued. “We have to embrace that physical challenge and make sure that we compete well enough, because if we don’t, then we will find it a tough evening.
“They have quality players in their ranks. I have worked with a couple of them; Jonny Howson – who did really well for me down at Norwich – and Jordan Hugill, who everyone is aware of, so they have some good players. Stewart Downing has some real quality as well, so we can’t underestimate the quality that they have.
They will be really well organised and well-drilled and we have to make sure that we move the ball and we compete as well as we possible can, because if we do that, then we have a chance.

“Although their team was considerably changed, we scored two against them in the Cup and two against them in the league at Deepdale last season and the goals we have been scoring, we are capable of getting one or two, we just have to make sure we do both sides of the game in the match really well, because it is going to take a lot of concentration.

“You want to apply a high press and try and win the ball, but not so much that they can just fling the ball forward to Jordan’s feet, because we know how strong and physical he can be. So, we are going to have to counter-act both sides of their game and if we can do that then hopefully we can imprint our style on them.”

His side are now eight games unbeaten and full of confidence, but he is wary of an ‘after the lord mayor’s show’ situation, following the thumping win over Lancashire rivals Blackburn Rovers.
“I have been involved in a lot of big derbies and once you come away with a positive result, sometimes after all the emotion, the next game becomes a bit of a damp squib.
Everybody is a bit mentally fatigued and physically fatigued; so we need to clear our minds and make sure that we have no hangover from the weekend’s game.

“We need to put our soul focus on winning this match and playing as well as we possibly can,” he added.
Ref Watch: Middlesbrough
Tuesday night’s match official, taking charge of his first PNE game of the season, is the referee who officiated last season’s Gentry Day at Bolton Wanderers.
The referee is Peter Bankes, who as well as the win at the Macron Stadium, also took charge both of the last two seasons’ clashes with Aston Villa at Deepdale, our FA Cup third round victory over Gareth Ainsworth’s Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park back in January this year and the 1-1 draw with Barnsley in September 2017.

The first of the aforementioned games against Villa, were his first of two North End games in 2016/17, also officiating the game against Leeds United at Elland Road in April 2017.
Last season’s clash with the Villans was his third visit to Deepdale as a referee. His first was the 2014/15 season’s 3-2 home win over Port Vale in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and then in 2015/16 season he was here for the last game of 2015, when we defeated Hull City 1-0 just after Christmas.
This is his fifth year on the EFL referee’s list and he also took charge of our win at Chesterfield in February 2015, when former striker Joe Garner scored twice on his return from a period out injured.

This will be his second Boro game of the season, having also officiated their away win at Hillsborough last month, when they overcame Sheffield Wednesday 2-1.

The assistants on Tuesday evening will be Mark Dwyer and Shaun Hudson, with fellow Select Group Two referee Darren Bond acting as fourth official.

[themaclad]

Preston North End 1 Browne Middlesbrough 1 Tavernier

PNE line-up: Rudd, Clarke ©, Earl, Pearson, Huntington, Storey, Barkhuizen, Gallagher, Moult (Nmecha, 73), Browne, Barker. Subs not used: Maxwell, Fisher, Woods, Hughes, Ledson, Barker.

Middlesbrough line-up: Randolph, Friend ©, Ayala (Braithwaite, 46), Batth, Clayton, Hugill, Fry, Saville, Flint, Wing (Howson, 49), Gestede (Tavernier, 27). Subs not used: Lonergan, Assombalonga, McNair, Fletcher.

Attendance: 10,990 (971 Middlesbrough fans)

Referee: Mr P Bankes

Would have taken a point before the game however afterwards this really was an oppotunity missed to beat a one dimensional Boro side whose sole ambition for the majority of the match was to hoof it long.
Injury hit North End made several changes from the side thbat demolished the plastics on Saturday, first sighting of Storey since the Hull game instead of Davies who I assume was injured was the only surprise.
Could have been two up in the first 10 minutes, Barker should have really scored after racing lear of the Boro defence in the first minute, he delayed his shot too long before being denied by a great recovery tackle from Wing. A corner caused mayhem in the Boro area looked like we had scored however the ball was cleared from the line and Boro survived. Then Moult played in by Browne fired straight at Randolp when well placed,
An injury to Gestede worked to Boro's advantage they brought on Tavernier to replace him and he immediately made an impact, finding space and taking people on, looks a decent prospect this lad. Boro got on top forcing a series of corners and free kicks, we got lucky from one corner but in the main dealt really well with them.
We took the lead on the stroke of half time slightly against the run of play although in saying that we deserved to lead.
Barker advanced down the left fed the ball to Browne, he cut inside a defender and fired home.
Boro were level within 45 seconds of the second half kicking off, poor defending by us Huntington was left exposed by the speedy Tavernier he advanced on goal and fired past Rudd. From then on in the game tended to die as a spectacle, both sides cancelled each other out although we did get into some good positions although tended to waste the final ball. Braithwaite another Boro sub caused us some problems like Tavernier actually looked more comfortable with the ball at his feet.
The flow of the game wasn't helped by Mr Bankes who had an inconsistent night to say the least and seemed to be more ready to penalise us for the slightest infringement but in the end a points a point but it could have been even better.

Preston North End manager Alex Neil:

"To play as well as we did tonight against second in the league, with six first team players missing, any team would struggle to do that if you take those players out of your squad.

"We haven't got any players left really, we had young Jack Baxter in the squad today doing the warm up because we are really stretched in terms of fit players we have available.

"It was a great goal. Alan (Browne) got dropped out at Bristol because I felt he was showing signs of fatigue, mentally more than anything. In the last two games he's shown why he is a player I rely on and I trust.

"The (Middlesbrough) goal is disappointing because it's a bad error from us and I don't think they created too much apart from that.

"We are playing well at the moment and we just want to keep that going now."

Middlesbrough manager Tony Pulis:

"We take a point, and we've taken four points from two away games at Brentford and Preston, who are the form team at the moment, especially at home.

"It's always difficult going to Brentford. Four points, it's not too bad.

"It's the second one on the bounce, and it's the second one where we have to travel and bed the lads down again and we didn't get much time.

"I'm really pleased again with the effort, but there's certain things we didn't do that we did the other Saturday, but having said that I still think we deserved what we got."