Palace v Middlesbrough

Selhurst Park, Saturday 3.00pm

Scott Dann

Team news

Crystal Palace captain Scott Dann has not yet fully recovered from his hamstring injury and misses out, as does Bakary Sako.

Loic Remy and Mathieu Flamini picked up knocks in training and are unlikely to feature for the Eagles. However, winger Jeffrey Schlupp (hamstring) is available to start, while goalkeeper Steve Mandanda (knee) will be assessed on his match fitness.

Middlesbrough have major doubts over Antonio Barragan (hamstring), Calum Chambers (stress fracture) and George Friend (calf). Striker Gaston Ramirez could make a return to the side, along with former Eagle Adlene Guedioura.

Palace (from): Hennessey, Mandanda, Speroni, Ward, Kelly, Tomkins, Delaney, Sakho, Van Aanholt, Fryers, McArthur, Milivojevic, Ledley, Townsend, Kaikai, Cabaye, Zaha, Campbell, Schlupp, Lee, C Benteke.

Middlesbrough (from): Valdes, Guzan, Chambers, Fabio, Friend, Gibson, Espinosa, Ayala, Husband, Fry, De Roon, Clayton, Forshaw, Leadbitter, Downing, Stuani, Traore, Fischer, Negredo, Gestede, Bamford.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"We've tried to get them a little fitter in this period, with no game. Physical and mental go hand in hand. The better you feel physically, the better you feel mentally.

"We've picked up a couple of knocks and injuries along the way, but we gave them a long weekend off to recover from that, and have built up this week towards a massive game against Boro.

"We have to finish on top of the bottom seven I'm thinking about. We need to live up to the expectation and pressure, and deliver on Saturday. This two-week break will hopefully have a major impact on us getting a massive result.

"We were supposed to beat Sunderland here, lost 4-0. Supposed to beat Swansea, lost 2-1. It's not Boro we're playing against. We're playing against ourselves here. We didn't cope mentally against Sunderland or Swansea, so we have to cope better to get our best game on the field tomorrow.

"If we do that, that might take care of Boro. There'll be little in it. Look at their record: if we produce our best, Boro are still very sound defensively, very solid. The result has always been the odd goal 20 times out of 25, so it will be tight."

Aitor Karanka

"We need to try and learn, especially from the game we lost at home. We lost that game to some things we knew about before the game. We know their style, we know the things we have to do. So I am positive but we can't forget that they are good players.

"The key players are the same, they have Benteke, Zaha, (Andros) Townsend, key men. The style can change a little bit, sometimes they play with three at the back, but if we make the same mistakes as last time it's going to be a problem.

"It is 11 v 11, we are competing well with everyone and I'm sure we'll compete with them. I don't want to put pressure on the players.

"I can't be here every day telling them how important, how massive this game is because they know. Everybody knows.

"The people who come here to watch our training sessions to do interviews, everyone says the atmosphere here is really good and you don't realise you are watching a session of a team in the relegation battle."

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Middlesbrough - league stats

Full league table

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
10/09/2016	League	Middlesbrough	1 - 2	Crystal Palace
16/02/2013	League	Crystal Palace	4 - 1	Middlesbrough
25/08/2012	League	Middlesbrough	2 - 1	Crystal Palace
04/02/2012	League	Middlesbrough	0 - 0	Crystal Palace
20/09/2011	League Cup	Crystal Palace	2 - 1	Middlesbrough

All time results

Last meeting

Middlesbrough 1-2 Palace

Saturday September 10 2016

Middlesbrough: Valdés, Barragán, Ayala, Gibson, Friend, Clayton (de Roon, 57), Forshaw, Stuani (Traoré, 81), Fischer (Ramírez, 57), Downing, Negredo

Subs not used: Rhodes, Guzan, Nsue, Chambers

Goals: Ayala (38)

Bookings: Ramírez

Palace: Mandanda, Ward, Dann, Delaney, Kelly, McArthur, Ledley (Flamini, 84), Zaha, Puncheon, Townsend (Lee, 77), C Benteke (J Benteke 84)

Subs not used: Tomkins, Hennessey, Fryers, Dreher

Goals: Benteke (16), Zaha (47)

Bookings: Zaha, Ward

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