FA Cup with Budweiser
Fourth Round
Sunday January 29 2012
Sunderland v Middlesbrough
Kick-off 1.30pm
THIS will be the 140th Wear-Tees derby in all competitions. Sunderland have won on 60 previous occasions and Boro on 43, leaving 36 draws.
It'll be the seventh meeting in the FA Cup, Sunderland having won three previous, there have been two draws and Boro have triumphed just once.
That Boro win, 3-1, was the last meeting in the competition between the sides and came at Ayresome Park at the same stage 37 years ago, on January 25.
The opposition in Sunderland's first-ever FA Cup match in November 1884 were Redcar, who beat them 3-1 at Coatham Cricket Ground. The visiting manager today is of course from Redcar.
The ITV studio summarisers are former Boro manager and skipper Gareth Southgate and former Sunderland manager Roy Keane.
Injuries and suspensions
Boro are without a host of midfield players. The most recent additions to the absentee list are former Black Cat Julio Arca, who serves the first of a three-match ban, and Kevin Thomson, who will serve a one-match suspension, both for red cards against Coventry last Saturday.
Merouane Zemmama is out of the game having had surgery earlier this week on a hernia problem.
Nicky Bailey continues to be missing with a knee ligament injury picked up against Peterborough United on New Year's Eve.
Goalkeeper Jason Steele is touch-and-go for the cup-tie, having missed the last two games with a thigh strain.
Bart Ogbeche is missing with a hamstring injury and is likely to be out until the start of next month.
Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill will be without striker Nicklas Bendtner.
The Denmark international suffered a broken nose and other facial injuries during last weekend's 2-0 Barclays Premier League victory over Swansea and is set to be missing until the middle of February.
Fellow striker Fraizer Campbell is likely to be in the squad following another appearance for the reserves on his return from a second serious knee injury. Midfielder Jack Colback was expected to resume training today following his recovery from an ankle problem.
Defender Titus Bramble was hopeful of making a return to the squad, but has been withdrawn after suffering a reaction in training.
Provisional squad: Mignolet, Westwood, Bardsley, O'Shea, Brown, Turner, Cattermole, Richardson, Gardner, Vaughan, Larsson, Elmohamady, McClean, Meyler, Colback, Sessegnon, Wickham, Ji, Campbell.
In Opposition
Sunderland need no introduction to Boro fans.
The Black Cats are into their fifth straight Premier League season, having last been promoted from the Championship in 2006/07 as champions.
They made an immediate return to the top-flight following their three-win, 15-point Premier League season in 2005/06.
Sunderland famously won the FA Cup back in 1973 when they overcame Leeds United 1-0 at Wembley. The only other time was in 1937, when they beat Preston North End.
New manager Martin O'Neill, above, who replaced the sacked Steve Bruce, has lost just twice in the nine games in all competitions since he took charge in early December. Sunderland have won three and drawn once at the Stadium of Light since the Northern Irishman's arrival on Wearside.
O'Neill has never lost at Middlesbrough as a player or manager since his first visit in 1973. Since becoming a manager, however, he has only beaten them at home once, the final time Boro faced his Leicester City side at Filbert Street in 2000 - and Boro players scored both the Leicester goals.
He was the last visiting manager in a Premier League game at the Riverside in May 2009, when his Aston Villa side drew 1-1 and virtually condemned Middlesbrough to relegation.
Sunderland are one of the Premier League's form teams at the moment. Only Manchester United have taken more points from the last eight games.
Three of their five wins in that spell have come with goals in or after the last minute, and their two defeats have been by a single goal away to teams in the top four.
Former Boro player Lee Cattermole will come up against his former side for the first time since his move to the Stadium of Light. Only Joey Barton has more yellow cards than Cattermole in the Premier League so far this season.
Cattermole was Boro's youngest-ever captain at 18, and played 91 games in just over two-and-a-half years at the Riverside. He has played 64 for Sunderland in the same time there.
If he starts this match it will be the 61st time for Sunderland - exactly the number he started for Middlesbrough.
Sunderland's main threat comes from midfield through leading scorer Seb Larsson and Stephane Sessegnon, above. The Swede has scored six, one more than his Benin-born team-mate.
FA Cup Form
Last six year's FA Cup runs for both sides.
Middlesbrough
Re-live Boro's FA Cup runs over the last six seasons by clicking on the score to read the match report from the game.
2005/06
Round three - Nuneaton Borough 1-1 Middlesbrough
Round three replay - Middlesbrough 5-2 Nuneaton Borough
Round four - Coventry City 1-1 Middlesbrough
Round four replay - Middlesbrough 1-0 Coventry City
Round five - Preston North End 0-2 Middlesbrough
Quarter-final - Charlton Athletic 0-0 Middlesbrough
Quarter-final replay - Middlesbrough 4-2 Charlton Athletic
Semi-final (at Villa Park) - West Ham United 1-0 Middlesbrough
2006/07
Round three - Hull City 1-1 Middlesbrough
Round three replay - Middlesbrough 4-3 Hull City
Round four - Bristol City 2-2 Middlesbrough
Round four Replay - Middlesbrough 2-2 Bristol City - AET (Boro win 5-4 on pens)
Round five - Middlesbrough 2-2 West Brom
Round five Replay - West Brom 1-1 Middlesbrough - AET (Boro win 5-4 on pens)
Quarter-final - Middlesbrough 2-2 Manchester United
Quarter-final replay - Manchester United 1-0 Middlesbrough
2007/08
Round three - Bristol City 1-2 Middlesbrough
Round four - Mansfield Town 0-2 Middlesbrough
Round five - Sheffield United 0-0 Middlesbrough
Round five replay - Middlesbrough 1-0 Sheffield United - AET
Quarter-final - Middlesbrough 0-2 Cardiff City
2008/09
Round three - Middlesbrough 2-1 Barrow
Round four - Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Middlesbrough
Round five - West Ham United 1-1 Middlesbrough
Round five replay - Middlesbrough 2-0 West Ham United
Quarter-final - Everton 2-1 Middlesbrough
2009/10
Round three - Middlesbrough 0-1 Manchester City
2010/11
Round three - Burton Albion 2-1 Middlesbrough
2011/12
Round three - Middlesbrough 1-0 Shrewsbury Town
Sunderland
2006/07
Round three - Preston North End 1-0 Sunderland
2007/08
Round three - Sunderland 0-3 Wigan Athletic
2008/09
Round three - Sunderland 2-1 Bolton Wanderers
Round four - Sunderland 0-0 Blackburn Rovers
Round four reply - Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Sunderland (after extra-time)
2009/10
Round three - Sunderland 3-0 Barrow
Round four - Portsmouth 2-1 Sunderland
2010/11
Round three - Sunderland 1-2 Notts County
2011/12
Round three - Peterborough United 0-2 Sunderland
Diary Dates
Five years ago - Boro throw away a two-goal lead (Yakubu and Malcolm Christie's last) to draw 2-2 at Bristol City in the FA Cup.
10 years ago - the day after having Diego Forlan snatched from them at Gatwick by Manchester United, Boro put them out of the FA Cup with late goals from Noel Whelan and Andy Campbell. The match is completely overshadowed by the death of Colin Cooper's son Finlay that evening.
15 years ago - Boro stagger past non-league Hednesford after going behind, thanks to an own goal and two in the last four minutes from Fjortoft and Ravanelli.
25 years ago - Paul Kerr makes a winning debut at Bury as Boro stay top of Division Three with two goals from Bernie Slaven and a Brian Laws penalty.
30 years ago - winter finally relents and in their first league game for two months Boro lose 1-0 at Spurs and drop to bottom of Division One.
35 years ago - A 4-0 home win over Hereford (Armstrong 2, Souness, Willey) takes Boro into the fifth round and makes it 11 games unbeaten.
40 years ago - in the first of three meetings in 10 days, Boro lose to a late goal at Millwall and drop to seventh in Division Two.
55 years ago - Brian Clough and Bill Harris put Boro ahead at Aston Villa before losing 3-2 to the eventual cup winners.
85 years ago - George Camsell hits his seventh hat-trick of the season in a 3-0 FA Cup win at Preston, a week after scoring in a 2-2 league draw there.
120 years ago - 9,000 pack Linthorpe Road to see Boro go out of the FA Cup to Preston's "Invincibles", who'd beaten Ironopolis 6-0 in the previous round. A Boro protest alleging an illegal Scotsman in the Preston side is rejected by the FA.
Vital Statistics
Sunderland haven't reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for eight years.
Boro's 1-0 victory over Shrewsbury in the third round is the only win of 2012 for Tony Mowbray's side, who haved lost to Blackpool, Burnley and Coventry since the turn of the year. In that period Boro have scored just once and have conceded eight.
In fact, that win is Boro's only victory in their last five games in all competitions.
Sunderland overcame Championship side Peterborough 2-0 at London Road in the third round.
Boro have managed just one clean sheet away from home in the last eight games, while Sunderland have conceded just two in their last four at the Stadium of Light.
Middlesbrough have not won a North East derby for six years and only two of the last 20 over the last nine years.
Sunderland have not won a derby for four years, since beating Boro and Newcastle in quick succession in September and October 2008.
Boro have never won an away derby in either of the major cup competitions, against Sunderland, Newcastle, Darlington, Hartlepool and South Shields.
In the FA Cup, Boro have only won away against a club in a higher division once in their history - 20 years ago this week at Sheffield Wednesday.
Middlesbrough have lost their last two league games at the Stadium of Light and conceded in injury-time in both, but they won the previous three. Boro actually have a better record there than Sunderland in head-to-heads, with four wins, three defeats and one draw.
Boro have had 10 players sent off against Sunderland, more than against any other team, but only one has been at the Stadium of Light - Gianluca Festa, above.
Only three teams in the Premier League have conceded fewer goals than Sunderland's 24 - the two Manchester clubs and Liverpool. They have only scored 16 at home - the same as two of the bottom three.
Last time out
January 10 2009, Premier League: Middlesbrough 1 (Alves 45), Sunderland 1 (Jones 81)
An undistinguished if still absorbing derby ended all-square with goals close to the end of each half.
Middlesbrough: Turnbull; McMahon, Wheater, Riggott, Pogatetz (Capt), Tuncay, Walker (Johnson A 47), Digard (Bates 65), Arca, Downing, Alves (Mido 86). Unused subs: Jones (gk); Taylor, Huth, Emnes.
Sunderland: Fulop; Chimbonda, Nosworthy, Ferdinand, Collins, Malbranque (Edwards 53), Whitehead (Capt), Richardson (Healy 80), Diouf (Reid 66), Jones, Cisse. Unused subs: Colgan (gk); Tainio, Murphy, Yorke.
Referee: Phil Dowd, Stoke-on-Trent.
Bookings
Middlesbrough: None
Sunderland: Malbranque, 7, foul on Walker; Richardson, 55, foul on Digard; Nosworthy 57, foul on Alves; Jones 82, over-celebrating his goal.
Attendance: 29,310
Conditions: Very cold with a stiff southerly breeze.
Website Boro Man of the Match: David Wheater
Referee: Kevin Friend, Leicestershire.
It'll be Mr Friend's fourth visit to the Stadium of Light this season, his most recent being the 1-0 injury-time victory over Manchester City, above.
His last Boro game was a 2-0 defeat at St James' Park back in December 2009. His only other Boro fixture came in a 3-1 victory over Ipswich at the Riverside in September 2009, in which he awarded a 90th-minute penalty to the visitors and booked eight players.
His first Premier League game came a week later.
This season he has issued three red cards and 66 yellow in 19 games.
Weather
A dry and bright day with the temperature expected to peak at four degrees this afternoon after a near freezing morning..A barely discernable 5mph breeze is forecast.
Tickets and Travel
This game has long since sold out for Boro fans.
Click here for all your ticket news
Click here for directions to the Stadium of Light
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