Middlesbrough take on Norwich City in the Championship on Wednesday night, in a game where Boro fans will see some old faces back at the Riverside
Middlesbrough welcome Norwich City to the Riverside on Wednesday.
Michael Carrick‘s side have dropped down into 14th place of the table and are now 12 points outside the top six, but just six points above the drop zone.
Boro have lost four of their last five now, losing 2-1 vs Stoke City last weekend in a defeat that really shone a light on the recent poor form.
Norwich meanwhile are fining form at the right time, with one defeat in their last 10 Championship games leaving them in 7th place of the table.
Former Middlesbrough trio set for Riverside return
Norwich City boast a very strong squad, with some top-level Championship players in their ranks.
And there’s also three former Boro names in their side too, with one being Ben Gibson, who was once described as a ‘fantastic’ player by former Boro boss Tony Mowbray.
Now 31, academy graduate Gibson is in his fourth season with Norwich City. He left Middlesbrough for Burnley in 2018 but would make just one Premier League appearance for the Clarets, oddly enough with one goal, before joining Norwich.
He’s featured 24 times in the Championship this season and the old Boro captain has been a star performer, keeping another former Middlesbrough player in Danny Batth out of the team.
Batth made just 13 total appearances for Boro compared to Gibson’s 204, spending time on loan from Wolves during the 2018/19 season.
Since, Batth has gone on to have successes with Stoke City and Sunderland, being named the Black Cats’ Player of the Season last year before joining Norwich City.
Though he’s managed just 10 appearances in the Championship this season.
Lastly, Cuban international Onel Hernandez will return to the Riverside on Wednesday night.
Like Batth, the 31-year-old also had a rather uneventful loan spell with Middlesbrough, featuring 17 times in the 2021/22 Championship season and managing just one goal.
He left for Birmingham City in the second half of that same season and improved, scoring and assisting three, and this season he’s played an important role for Boro, playing 30 times but having yet to score.
Carrick will be hoping that the trio don’t come back to haunt their former club on Wednesday night, with kick off at 7:45pm.