After a solid performance against Blackburn it’s now time to turn our attentions to 1 of 2 home games this week, starting with Man City.

Obviously our previous encounter will always be remembered as one of the greatest games that has ever taken place at the Riverside and will be part of Boro folklore for many years to come (Yes a certain Brazilian actually scored from a free kick after a coupe of years of scaring the crap out of the seagulls on the roof Ed). Of course it would take a miracle if that happened again, and now the Blues are equipped with strength at the back, flair and grit in the midfield followed byΒ  (unusual for city) world-class centre forwards. We’ve seen many world-class players fall heavily from grace in 90 minutes here at the Riverside but we’ve also seen some individual pieces of brilliance that some fans out there have paid to see.

There were positives to take after Blackburn, Tuncay getting straight back into the fold like he’s never been away. Alves netting his second, Aliadiere putting in a really good shift, always an option, always a threat. Gary O’Neil contributing defensively and getting an assist when clearly it should have been 2.

Both teams will have 2 different types of motivation, Man City who played really well over the weekend beating Stoke 3-0 will want that to continue. The Boro, well we might feel aggrieved we didn’t achieve all 3 points and will hopefully strive and put in 100% more effort compared to the last home game.

I think considering the players city have at their disposure we should really get at them from the off, you can’t back off against the likes of SWP, Elano and a certain Robinho, if we give them an inchΒ  they’ll take a yard so we need to be wary of that fact.

Hopefully Mido & Arca will return giving us a much-needed boost in firepower up top and creative flair in the middle.

Taking everything into account, the impact of the game will all depend on which Boro will turn up as this is usually the case but will the determined hard faced Boro who harasses every player beckon on Wednesday night? Or will effortless/pointless performance occur once again? Only time will tell…

Come on Boro!