Middlesbrough

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Middlesbrough will seek to go top of the Championship, for a few hours at least, as they welcome Cardiff to the Riverside on Saturday (12:30 BST).

Boro overcame Wolves at home last Saturday before a last-gasp 3-2 win at Stoke to sit second, two points behind Swansea, who face third-placed West Ham at 15:00 BST.

The Bluebirds are 19th, two points above the drop zone, after winning two of their past three games, thumping Watford 5-1 at home on Tuesday night, but have lost their past four games on the road.

• Middlesbrough have only lost one of their past 10 league games against Cardiff City (W6 D3), a 2-3 home defeat in September 2022.

• Cardiff have lost four of their past five league meetings with Middlesbrough, although did draw 1-1 at the Riverside most recently in January 2025.

• For the second season in succession, Middlesbrough find themselves on exactly 21 points after their opening 10 games of a campaign, matching their best start since 1995-96.

• Cardiff have won two of their past three Championship matches (L1), as many victories as across their prior 24 combined in the second tier (D11 L11).

• This season across all competitions, Middlesbrough's Will Lankshear has struck 10 goals, one of only two players to hit double figures for a side in England's top four tiers, alongside Manchester City's Erling Haaland (also 10).

Middlesbrough are getting better and better, according to head coach Kim Hellberg.

The Teessiders stretched their unbeaten run to eight games in the Championship with a 3-2 win at Stoke on Tuesday night to remain second in the table.

"It felt like it could have been a smoother ride but again it's the mentality when it goes to 2-2 then going on to win it," Hellberg told BBC Radio Tees.

"You could see in the game when they scored we go and push again and it was clear we were chasing to win the game. Without a doubt it was a fair result - we are starting to get better and better."

Middlesbrough beat Wolves 1-0 on Saturday and Hellberg saluted his side's resilience for following-up that victory with Tuesday's win.

"The performance as a whole was a top one, to go away against a team with five wins and a draw in their past six games is very impressive," he added.

"You play a game on Saturday against Wolves which means so much to everyone, playing against a team that has come down from the Premier League.

"Then you go to Stoke against a team who haven't lost in six and put up that sort of performance, that is brilliant from the boys."

Listen to more Middlesbrough interviews and content on BBC Sounds.

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Two of the Championship's in-form sides will meet when Stoke City welcome Middlesbrough to the bet365 Stadium on Tuesday night.

After losing their opening three matches of the season, the Potters are unbeaten since then with five wins from six (D1), including three victories in a row.

During that impressive run, Stoke have climbed from bottom to fourth in the table.

Meanwhile, second-placed Boro are unbeaten in their past seven games (W4 D3) and have lost just once so far this season.

• Stoke have lost three of their past four league games against Middlesbrough (D1), more than in their previous eight beforehand (W3 D3 L2).

• Middlesbrough have won both of their previous two away league games against Stoke, and are looking to win three in a row for the very first time.

• Stoke are looking to win four consecutive home league games for the first time since April 2014 in the Premier League.

• Middlesbrough have only lost one of their past 10 away games in the Championship (W3 D6), a 1-2 defeat at Blackburn in August.

• Mark Robins has only won more Championship games as a manager against Millwall (9) than Middlesbrough (8), although he has lost two of his three against them with Stoke (D1).

Naz Premji
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Middlesbrough narrowly missed out on promotion to Hull City in last season's Championship play-off final and the early signs for them this term is that they want to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

Kim Hellberg's side are second after nine games having lost just once.

The latest win was against promotion rivals Wolves in a game which marked the 150th anniversary of the club - the winner scored by the hottest striker in the second tier, Will Lankshear.

He has scored seven times in the league and looks a player of real quality.

What made Tottenham sell him in the first place is a discussion for another day but what I can tell you is that he has a little bit of everything in terms of a forward.

His latest goal with his head showed a level of technical ability far beyond his 21 years and indeed his own manager commented that he is "growing as a player and his finishing is on a different level".

After Lankshear's goal, Boro showed a grit and determination to keep a very good Wolves side at bay and see out the victory.

Indeed late on, Boro could have added to the tally with Kyle Joseph coming off the bench and producing an effort which came off the crossbar.

It may be early days but the signs for Middlesbrough look good.

And if Lankshear can stay fit and firing then the Premier League could be their final destination come May. It really could.

Adam Lanigan
BBC Sport, North East & Cumbria

Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg is happy to lavish praise on his players as they sit second in the Championship following the 1-0 win over Wolves on Saturday.

Having come close to promotion last season in both the automatic spots and then twice in the play-offs after the Spygate affair, Boro have had to go again.

They have brought in 12 players led by the Championship's joint top-scorer Will Lankshear but also had to content with significant exits in Hayden Hackney, Dael Fry and Morgan Whittaker, so there is a different feel to the squad.

"With everything that's gone on, what happened last season, all the rotation in the squad, it's been an unbelievably strong start from the players," the Swede told BBC Radio Tees.

"For that, they deserve a lot of credit."

Boro have lost only one of their opening nine league games, in a run of fixtures that has included matches against five of the current top nine.

They have another on Tuesday evening with a trip to the Championship's form side in Stoke City (20:00 BST), who have won five and drawn one of their last six.

Hellberg is not reading too much into where Boro are sitting right now but more in how they have performed in the opening weeks.

"The table is not that important but you look at the teams we've played and how they've started," he said.

"We've played a lot of teams who've started the season and we've performed in a very good way with a lot of players. That's the main thing.

"My job is to keep working hard to get them better as we'll need them all through the season."

We asked for your thoughts after Middlesbrough beat Wolves 1-0 on Saturday to climb into the Championship's automatic promotion spots.

Here are some of your comments:

Middlesbrough fans

KiddyChris: Hanging on at the end, but you'd possibly expect that against a good team. Fair play to Wolves, really pushed us back. But I think the best team won. Just. Feels like a big win, and finally a home clean sheet. Both teams will be up there in May. Fingers crossed this time…

David: Great result against a big rival. Lankshear has to be the buy of the season.

Paul: Haven't reached the heights of last season in terms of performance but now getting three points when we would get beat last year.

Noa: I thought Boro played a controlled game and won in a composed convincing way.

Andrew: Excellent and well done to all on this auspicious 150th anniversary. You had me worried for a while there at the end.

AyresomeAngel: Great header by our new centre-forward, nicely set up by T.C. Very useful 3 points against a good side, who, like us, are better off for the loss of a certain manager!

Image source, Shutterstock

Wolves fans

Alan: Probably the worst performance of the season. Both full-backs run ragged.

Djiga lucky not to see red early in the first half. Good job he wasn't as he played really well.

No threat up front except when Munetsi was involved. Armstrong did well to rob the keeper but looked amateurish when he gifted the ball back to him. Total lack of ability to make an accurate pass into the penalty area. Improved with the subs but difficult to say why.

James still has to show what he can do. Fer Lopez worked hard, but never got up to speed. Need a major attitude adjustment if we are to stay in the chase!

Chris C: Two decent sides Wolves looked like the break came at the wrong time. But nothing between the two sides and still very optimistic about the season.

Mike: No complaints about the result I thought Boro were the better side overall and Peixoto is kidding himself if he really thinks a draw would have been a fairer result. Wolves never really got going until they went behind and wasted the half chances they created when chasing the equaliser.

Wol: We have played two of the favourites for promotion and lost to them both. We lack a target man up front playing with two wide men and Armstrong up top. We won't win games. None of our balls in the box found a Wolves player. Defensive errors cause us problems as always.

John: Wolves management still have not realised that without a goalscorer who can score 14 or 15 goals in the season at this level, they can never achieve automatic promotion. At present top six at best is their level. And this comment from a supporter of the club for 70 years.

Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg was "very happy" with his side's 1-0 victory over Wolves on Saturday.

The side were celebrating their 150th anniversary and ended it with a win thanks to Will Lankshear's header.

"I don't think it gets much better than this," Hellberg told BBC Radio WM. "A good performance against a good side.

"There was a lot of things that were very good. I think up to the goal, we were absolutely brilliant in terms of the home game, pressing up high. We almost limited them to no chances in the first half.

"After the goal, we showed what we are trying to be - a solid team against a good side because the games will always change when we go ahead.

"I cannot reckon they had any chances to make it 1-1. We defended very good, we defended crosses, we had some transitions where we could have killed the game off but overall I'm very happy."

The goal marks Lankshear's ninth of the season and Hellberg thinks there is more to come.

He said: "Will is growing as a player. His technical quality and finishing is on a different level and you can see that with the goal, that header is one of the best I've seen.

"Will wants to improve in everything. At the start it was mainly around the box scoring the goals but now he gives us almost everything."

Listen to the full interview above or on BBC Sounds here.

Image source, Opta

We're back with a bang after the international break as Middlesbrough mark their 150th anniversary with the visit of Wolves to the Riverside (15:00 BST).

Going into the weekend Boro sit third, a point ahead of Wolves, who have played one game fewer.

Both sides have lost just once in the Championship this season, and, depending on West Ham's result on Friday night and Swansea's on Saturday lunchtime, could be in position to take over at the top of the table with a win on Teesside.

• This is the first league meeting between Middlesbrough and Wolves since the 2017-18 season, when Wolves won both games (1-0 home, 2-1 away) on their way to winning the Championship title.

• Wolves are looking to win three consecutive league games against Middlesbrough for the first time.

• Middlesbrough are unbeaten in six Championship games (W3 D3), last enjoying a longer unbeaten run in their first eight games last season under Rob Edwards.

• Wolverhampton Wanderers have won four of their past six league games (D1 L1), more than in their previous 43 combined (W3 D13 L27). They are looking to keep three clean sheets in a row for the first time since January 2022, while they last won three in a row without conceding in June 2020.

• Only one player has made more dribbles in the Championship this season than Wolves' Mateus Mane (32). It's the most per 90 minutes (5.8) by a Wolves player in a league season since Adama Traore in 2022-23 (6.1).

In a bonus episode of the BBC's Football Daily podcast, John Bennett is joined by BBC Radio Solent's Adam Blackmore and 72+ EFL podcast host and former Reading and Watford winger Jobi McAnuff to react to the Spygate verdict.

An FA regulatory commission has handed Southampton boss Tonda Eckert a suspended six-week ban for his involvement in the Spygate scandal, but do the panel think is it a fair outcome?

Blackmore said: "I thought he'd get maybe three to five games per [FA] charge and it would be a difficult decision for the club - do we wait for him to come back, do we move on?

"I think he's lucky, but I am pleased it is all over and it looks like they can move on. I think he's paid a fairly hefty price, even if it hasn't come in the dugout in the next few weeks."

Eckert was fined £28,000 for authorising three instances of spying on opponents before games - including last season's Championship play-off semi-final against Middlesbrough.

Saints were expelled from the play-off final as a result - after beating Boro over two legs - and were also handed a four-point deduction this season.

McAnuff feels Eckert "got off very, very lightly".

He added: "Ultimately he's not going to miss any time on that sideline.

"Southampton fans, players and staff who had no knowledge have been incredibly harshly punished - I think justly.

"I feel, ultimately, one man was responsible for that. I cannot understand how the commission has come to the conclusion that he won't face any time off the touchline.

"It's a real shock and certainly something I didn't see coming. When you step over the line that should have severe repercussions and I don't think we've seen that with the sanctions that have been handed down."

With Middlesborough the club to have uncovered Saints' spying, fan and editor of Fly Me To The Moon fanzine, Robert Nichols, also offers his thoughts on what this decision feels like from a Boro perspective.

Listen to the full episode here.

Image source, Getty Images

Middlesbrough forward David Strelec scored for Slovakia as they continued their unbeaten run in the Nations League with a 4-0 win in Moldova.

The 25-year-old opened the scoring in Chisinau to help his country to a third win in four games.

The goal is Strelec's 11th for Slovakia and his first since a 2-0 friendly win over Romania in March.

Slovakia are top of League C, Group Three with 10 points, six ahead of both the Faroe Islands and Moldova as they seek promotion to League B.