"Opening Saturday's showdown sat in silver medal position and looking to widen their buffer in the automatic promotion chase, Kim Hellberg's camp will be confident of making another statement this weekend. Last seen mounting a stellar second-half comeback away at Stoke as they snatched a 2-1 victory, Boro have won all of their previous three consecutive Championship appearances by an aggregate score of 9-3 and they have certainly found a recent clinical edge in the final third."
"As for the visitors, while Preston might have got the New Year underway with consecutive Championship wins, the Lilywhites have shown some real inconsistencies over recent times. Last seen putting in a nightmare performance as they slumped to a 3-0 drumming at home against Hull, Paul Heckinbottom's men are now only just clinging to their spot in the play-off places."
Middlesbrough sit second in the Championship and have continued strong form after Rob Edwards' departure, winning three straight league matches by a combined 9-3. Kim Hellberg's side recovered from behind to beat Stoke 2-1 and recorded a dominant 4-0 win over Southampton earlier in the month. Middlesbrough have accumulated 27 points from 13 home league games, the fourth-best home return in the division. Preston have shown inconsistency, suffering a 3-0 home defeat to Hull and exiting the FA Cup with a 1-0 loss to Wigan. Paul Heckinbottom's squad has lost three consecutive matches across competitions by a combined 5-0 and has managed only two wins since mid-December.
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