Wycombe Wanderers look to produce one of English Football’s most shocking last-gasp great survival escapes as they visit Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.
Victory could see Boro finish the season as high as ninth, whereas Wycombe are all but relegated because they must claim an enormous double-figure win and hope results elsewhere swing their way if Gareth Ainsworth’s Chairboys are to stay up.
Team News
Djed Spence could return for Middlesbrough after being named as an unused substitute in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Luton, having struggled to shake off a knock in training last week.
Marcus Browne, Sam Morsy (both knee), Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (thigh), Marcus Tavernier (hamstring), Dael Fry and Anfernee Dijksteel (both ankle) remain absent.
Wycombe have no fresh injury concerns to report after last Saturday’s home win over Bournemouth.
Adebayo Akinfenwa, Dominic Gape (both muscle) and Nnamdi Ofoborh (unspecified) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Middlesbrough are unbeaten in five previous meetings against Wycombe in all competitions (W3, D2).
- Wycombe have lost both of their two previous trips to Middlesbrough without scoring (L2).
- Yannick Bolasie has scored once in each of Middlesbrough’s last three home games (W1, D1, L1), with two of his three goals coming in the first half.
- Uche Ikpeazu has scored in two of Wycombe’s last three matches.
- Martin Atkinson is refereeing a game involving Middlesbrough for the first time since April 2017, when Boro drew 0-0 at home to Burnley in the Premier League.
Prediction
Having seen their play-off hopes collapse this past month amidst further injuries, Middlesbrough really need to pull together a strong performance to give themselves momentum heading into next season.
Wycombe meanwhile might already be all but relegated but if they can conjure up the spirit shown in recent weeks for one final time, they could well take the game to Boro but I can’t see them getting the result they need to stand any shot at survival.
I however do hope that Gareth Ainsworth’s Chairboys can use their late momentum as motivation to end this season on a high and set themselves up nicely for a rebound promotion bid next season, even if Boro away is one of their hoodoos.
Prediction: Middlesbrough 1-1 Wycombe
Result: Middlesbrough 0-3 Wycombe (Wycombe are RELEGATED!!!)