Smoggies 0 – 0 Toon

Two clean sheets in two consecutive games could have you believe that we played well at Boro, but the fact is our midfield and forward line look bereft of any kind of creativity. As the smogside mist descended, so too did our chances of getting anything out of this game.

A bemusing decision by Joe Kinnear to bring off Obafemi Martins instead of Michael Owen (who looked two or three steps behind the pace) severely limited our goalscoring opportunities. Martins hit the bar, got behind the Boro defense on a number of occasions – Michael Owen did.. not a whole lot of anything.

Boro threatened in the second half with Alves becoming a thorn in the sides of Coloccini and Bassong and we rode our luck at times, but the constant marauding by the Boro wide men down our flanks is something that needs to be addressed. Downing seemed to have all day to pick out passes into our box, and on the other side, let’s just say we need a more stable left-back.

Credit to Joe Kinnear for choosing to remain with the Coloccini and Bassong partnership and putting Steven Taylor on the bench. His faith in Bassong saw the central defender put in another assured display at the heart of our defence.

Hopefully the well-earned point against Chelski has given us a bit of a confidence boost. It’s been three games since we last won -  but surely if we can go to Stamford Bridge and get a point, we can go to the Riverside and take care of business?

Kinnear has some selection problems ahead of the game this weekend. Performances by Bassong and Colloccini at the heart of our defence will see us with an unchanged back four. Steven Taylor should get a place on the bench, putting him straight into the side just because he’s up for selection will do Bassong no favours whatsoever.

Duff and Ameobi will both be out because of injuries they suffered in training. Are you watching Charles N’Zogbia? Take advantage of this situation and put in a stint that the Toon fans will remember. Bambi Ameobi being out is not big miss. Even though he’s scored a couple of goals, he shouldn’t be anywhere near our first team squad. Speaking of which, it’ll be nice to see Viduka get a place on the bench – on his day he can be a match winner.

My Toon Team for Saturday:

Given, Enrique, Bassong, Colloccini, Beye.

N’Zogbia, Butt, Guthrie, Gutierrez

Owen, Martins