O'Neill arrival has inspired Sunderland(credit:
Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
Middlesbrough will be looking to show that they are capable of hanging with the big boys when they face Sunderland on Sunday in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Mowbray has done a great job rescuing the club after Gordon Strachan had done his best to turn Middlesbrough into a retirement home for Rangers and Celtic has-beens. Having made a great start to the season, the Riverside outfit have suffered a dip in form of late, winning just one of their last five in all competitions. That solitary victory came in the third round of the FA Cup when they narrowly avoided a replay against Shrewsbury.
Mowbray’s team has been crippled by injuries and suspensions of late, and his hands will be tied again for the trip to Sunderland with Nicky Bailey, Julio Arca, Kevin Thomson, Jason Steele and Bart Ogbeche all out.
While Middlesbrough’s form has dipped Sunderland’s resurrection under Martin O’Neill shows no signs of slowing down. The 2-0 win over Swansea makes it six wins in nine matches since O’Neill took the reins at the Stadium of Light. Having guided the Black Cats away from the relegation zone, O’Neill has set his sights on taking Sunderland on a cup run. The Northern Irishman played a near full-strength team against Peterborough in the last round and with the expectation of Nicklas Bendtner will almost certainly do the same again.
Sunderland are 4/6 (
Betfred) to win, with Boro at 5/1 and the draw at 11/4 in the match betting. With the home side a very short price you might want to look towards Stéphane Sessègnon at 11/8 to score anytime given the form he has been in recently.