Coca-Cola Championship
Tuesday September 29 2009
Middlesbrough v Leicester City
Kick-off 8pm

TONIGHT'S game is the 81st all-time meeting between the two sides, with each having won 29, leaving 22 draws.

Boro are unbeaten in their last five meetings with the Foxes after drawing the last two and won the three before that.

Two former Middlesbrough captains come head-to-head this evening, Nigel Pearson having led Boro into the Riverside Revolution and Gareth Southgate lifting Boro's first ever major trophy in 2004.

Injuries and suspensions

Boro have more injury worries following Saturday's 2-2 draw at Coventry, during which Justin Hoyte sustained ankle ligament damage and is almost certain to miss the game.

Caleb Folan, who was an unused substitute at the weekend, tore his hamstring in training on Sunday and will have scans tomorrow to determine the length of his absence.

Didier Digard is back in the squad after a groin problem but Emanuel Pogatetz is still missing as he builds up fitness from a knee injury.

Chris Riggott remains sidelined after another ankle operation. The central defender will begin running in water in early October, stepping us his rehab to begin running properly two weeks later.

Andrew Taylor will be out for five-to-six weeks with ankle ligament damage. The left-back will wear a protective boot for the next two weeks before embarking on the road to regain fitness.

Long-term absentee Matthew Bates is not expected to play again this season after he recovers from an anterior cruciate ligament operation he had at the beginning of this month.

Leicester City have a relative clean bill of health and Pearson has no new injury concerns ahead of the trip to the Riverside.

Guide to the opposition

Leicester City were promoted from League One as champions last season, after dropping to the third tier in English football for the first time in their history in 2008.

They have made a solid start to this campaign, having lost only twice in nine Championship games.

The Foxes will be remembered for beating Boro in the 1997 League Cup final, courtesy of a Steve Claridge goal in a replay at Hillsborough.

Boro had come within 90 seconds of winning the initial tie at Wembley, but an Emile Heskey strike in the 119th minute secured a replay.

One to watch

Jack Hobbs

Hobbs was snapped up by Leicester City after Liverpool allowed the promising young central defender to move on.

The 21-year-old joined the Foxes on loan in January earlier this year and was voted their Young Player of the Year for the 2008/09 season.

With Hobbs in the team, Leicester have lost just once in nine games so far this season. He was left out on Saturday in favour of Aleksander Tunchev as Preston won 2-1 at the Walkers Stadium.

One player who could feature tonight is defender Bruno Berner. His last visit to the Riverside was a legendary one as far as Boro fans are concerned.

He played the full 90 minutes as Boro came from three goals down with less than an hour to go to beat Basel 4-1 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate to reach the UEFA Cup semi-final.

Through the window

Boro

In: Mark Yeates (Colchester United - undisclosed), Danny Coyne (Tranmere Rovers - free), Leroy Lita (unattached), Sean St Ledger (Preston North End - three-month loan), Caleb Folan (Hull City - three-month loan).

Out: Ross Turnbull (Chelsea - out of contract), Stewart Downing (Aston Villa - £12m), Mido (Zamalek - year-long loan), Robert Huth (Stoke City - £5m rising to £6m), Tuncay (Stoke City - £5m), Afonso Alves (Al Sadd - undisclosed).

Leicester City

Ins: Paul Gallagher (Blackburn Rovers - undisclosed), Richie Wellens (Doncaster Rovers £1.2m), Dany N'Guessan (Lincoln City - undisclosed), Jack Hobbs (Liverpool - undisclosed),Chris Weale (Bristol City - free) Wayne Brown (Hull City - free), Robbie Neilson (Hearts - free), Yann Kermorgant (Reims - free), Ryan McGivern (Manchester City - loan), Martyn Waghorn (Sunderland - loan).

Outs: Joe Mattock (West Brom - undisclosed), Radostin Kishishev (Litex Lovech - free), Marc Edworthy (Burton Albion - free), Patrick Kisnorbo (Leeds United - free), Billy McKay (Northampton Town - free)m Barry Hayles (Cheltenham Town - free), Craig King (Hereford United - loan), Paul Dickov (Derby County - loan), Ashley Chambers (Wycombe Wanderers - loan), Harry Worley (Crewe - loan), Aman Verma (Crewe - loan), James Wesolowski (Hamilton Academical - loan), Paul Henderson (released), Bruno N'Gotty (released).

The Form Book

Having kept four clean sheets in the opening five games, Boro have now conceded in each of their last five.

Leicester haven't won away from home in the league this season.

The last time the Foxes kept a clean sheet was August 22, in a 1-0 home win over Barnsley, while on the same day Boro won 2-0 against Doncaster at the Riverside - also the last time Gareth Southgate's side had a successful shutout.

The two sides have twice met on the same corresponding date, the most recent being a 2-0 win for Boro at Ayresome Park in 1993, with a 6-0 thumping of the Foxes three years earlier.

Last time out

January 17 2004

Middlesbrough 3 (Juninho 8, Maccarone 90, Curtis 90 (og)) Leicester City 3 (Dickov 49, Dickov 65, Bent 76)

A quite incredible game saw Boro take the lead, miss a penalty, go 3-1 down and then score two in the closing minutes to grab a point.

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer; Mills, Cooper (Captain) (Davies 31), Riggott, Queudrue, Nemeth, Boateng, Zenden (Mendieta 61), Downing, Juninho, Job (Maccarone 61). Unused subs: Jones (gk); Doriva.

Referee

Mark Haywood

This is Mr Haywood's fourth season in the League. It is his ninth game of this season but just his second in the Championship, following Saturday's draw between Reading and Watford at the Madejski Stadium.

In his eight games so far Mr Haywood has shown 18 yellow and one red card.

Weather

A cloudy but mild evening is forecast with temperatures around 16 degrees come kick-off. A 5mph west, north-westerly breeze is expected to accompany 84% humidity.

Tickets

Tickets are still available for the game.

Click here for all your ticket news.

Full coverage of the game will be available on Boro World. Right now on Boro World we have exclusive interviews with Gareth Southgate and Brad Jones who look ahead to tonight's game and the goalscorers from Saturday, Rhys Williams and Sean St Ledger, who aren't as happy as you might expect them to be.