Middlesbrough v Notts County
Carabao Cup 1st Round. Kick Off: Tuesday August 14th 7:45 pm
KEVIN NOLAN brings his Notts County side to the Riverside hoping to repeat their last visit to the ground when they won by the only goal of the game.
The Boro have started their campaign in the Championship well with an opening draw at Millwall followed by two home wins against Sheffield United and Birmingham City without conceding a goal something that will please Tony Pullis immensly.
Although Tony still states the squad is not good enough for promotion and we wait to see what loan deals he can come up with.
The Magpies were pre-season favourites for promotion before a ball was kicked but have started poorly.
A goalless draw on the opening day at home to Colchester was followed by a 3-2 defeat at Cambridge United. County scored first to lead at half-time before falling to three second-half goals – the last in stoppage time.
Not much history between the two clubs on head to head as apart from the last visit you need to go back to 2004 and 2005 for two FA Cup clashes in the third round which Middlesbrough won both.
Pullis has already hinted he will be making several changes with squad players and possibly Academy players being used. As for Kevin Nolan he slated his defence for what he called “sloppy goals they gave away” and it will be back to the drawing board and classroom for them, I am sure he will expect a much improved performance from them in this match.
I envisage a tight game with the draw a definite possibility with the second half producing the most goals. Low stakes are recommended.
In December 2020 we sadly 
