December is a double header for our games against The North Yorkshire outfit, Middlesborough FC. The first at home marks the beginning of week 19 of the Championship on Friday at a slightly later kick of time of 8’ o’clock instead of the usual 7:45 and the away game at The Riverside in another midweek encounter later in the month on Monday 29th December on what will be week 24 and the first game of the second half of the season.

Boro, sat in second place on 33 points and a mixed bag of form over the last 6 games having won 2, drawn 2 and lost 2 with the last win being a come back against Derby on Saturday, trailing to a 1-0 scoreline until a late quickfire comeback on 75 and then a winner on 84 minutes engineered by Hackney who provided a brace of assists to rescue them on home turf in front of just over 25,000 relieved fans.

City’s game away at Stoke replicated the same profile in trailing 1-0 and then Belloumi, our resident engineer of good fortunes providing a brace of assists for our own late 2-1 comeback to secure 3 points and shared a shining light beaming down on man of the moment Joe Gelhardt who’s form is nuclear at the moment and rarely fails to make the headlines with either a goal, assist or both and will surely be one of the first names on the team sheet under the lights on Friday?

The Tigers, with a 3 win, 3 loss form over the last 6 games including a back to back losing blip will be looking to get another winning run going or at least another run of games without defeat as witnessed through the October and November spell with half a dozen games to the good and not a big L in sight.

Jakipovic will be a little happier with being able to shuffle a fuller deck as injured players are now on the cusp of return such as McBurnie, our 6 in 10 striker and the industrious left winger Millar and we’ve already seen a gentle drip feed of players being reintroduced in Belloumi and Lundstram who made his mark and first game back with more off field attention than his football on it, namely the “Shhhh” moment that sent Stoke’s Robins and his staff into a childish meltdown after losing the lead then losing the game in the last knockings to yet another Joffy goal.

It has to be noted that Sergej not only has the dressing room purring like a tomcat after a gallon of warm milk, a captain that’s very well respected, that his tactical nous is our very tangible 12th man. The Stoke win was a perfect example of how he changed a first half 1-0 loss to a second half 2-0 win with just 2 subs and a change of application that saw us back in the game just 3 minutes after the 45 minute restart. Robins didn’t act and then Sergej piled on the pressure with further subs and fresh legs of his own which turned us from the hunted to the hunter to the breadwinner.

Can he outsmart Boro’s newly appointed Kim Hellberg? I wouldn’t bet against it but you can’t rule out a side that’s been in the mix all season. As it pans out we’ve been pegged back on Monday by a winning Birmingham side putting us down from 7th to 8th and again on Tuesday with a slightly kinder result, a 1-1 draw between Blackburn and Ipswich, from 8th to a respectable 9th with still just a single point from a play off place. Bagging a V on Friday night could put as high as 3rd, squeezing Millwall into 4th on GD and that’s an opportunity we can’t let go begging.

The last game at home V The Boro was the first day of this year. New years Day 2025 in front of over 25,500 expectant fans but it sadly ended up a fruitless run around by City and we were doused 1-0 which was the second beating by them as 4 weeks earlier we were battered at the Riverside (An ironic game week 19 again) 3-1 with Burstow the only player to put a chalk mark on the board.

Ryan Giles our valued left WB and creative player has history with Boro having spent a miserable season with them during the 2024 / 2025 campaign notching up 11 appearances when both Walter and Selles didn’t have the time of day for him playing just 18 games for City out of a combined 46 but his first time with them was as a Wolves loanee during 2022 / 2023 season with 45 games at The Riverside. Under Sergej and with his new found smile and verve I think Ryan will have an extra spring in his step, an extra yard of pace and possibly a special pin point cross or two for a hopeful return of McBurnie.

Too Hard to call so I’m sitting on the fence at 1-1.

My ideal start up,

Pandur.
Gilo, Hughes, Ajayi, Coyle.
Crooks.
Millar, Geldhardt, Belloumi
Slater.
Oli McFkgBurnie

Boro player to watch – 23 year old Hayden Hackney, a creative central midfielder with a penchant for holding possession with 3 goals and 5 assists to his 18 game tally.

City player to watch. All of them. Between the first and last whistle, we are not always in it. But we are never out of it.

Biggest ever home win over The Boro. 5-0. 1922. FAC.

UTT.