Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Brighton defender Lewis Dunk is suspended after being booked twice in their 2-2 draw with QPR in midweek.
Fellow defender Uwe Hunemeier could start alongside captain Gordon Greer in defence, while striker Sam Baldock (thigh) has returned to training.
Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka has defended his rotation policy and could make changes again.
Defenders Rhys Williams (Achilles), Damia Abella (cruciate) and Alex Baptiste (leg) remain sidelined.
Editor’s Note: This lunchtime sees a top of the table clash in the Championship as new league leaders Middlesbrough travel to displaced from the top Brighton.
Brighton are still unbeaten after 21 league matches this season but have been guilty of squandering leads late on in the past 7 days, so much so that there 4 point gap at the top has been eroded and they now find themselves in 2nd behind ‘Boro on Goal Difference.
Late equalisers scored by both Derby and QPR in the past week has seen Brighton slip to second and they need to make sure they don’t become the draw specalists if they want to stay in the automatic promotion places with Derby and Hull hot on their heels.
They go up against a Middlesbrough side who are unbeaten in their last 5 matches and a home win over follow promotion chasers Burnley saw them go top on Tuesday night.
This game will be a big test of both sides promotion credentials but I can see it being another draw, a result which does never team any furthers and if Derby and Hull were both teams were to win would see all 4 teams on the same points with Boro and Brighton dropping into the play off slots
Both teams to score but a share of the points is my prediction on the South Coast this lunchtime, looking forward to it already
