Wilder keen to track at the See Boro on the LNER Stadium
WHAT TO EXPECT IF YOU ARE MAKING THE JOURNEY TO YORK
MIDDLESBROUGH travel to York City this evening for their second pre-season friendly of the summer.
Manager Chris Wilder will be looking to see his side step up after last weekend’s 5-0 win at Bishop Auckland.
On paper, the opposition is a little sterner, with John Askey’s side preparing for a season in the National League after winning promotion via the play-offs last term.
Boro’s goals for the season ahead are clear and the boss is looking for players to stake their claim in the summer games ahead of the new season.
The friendly at the LNER Community Stadium offers another chance for players to do that ahead of the trip to Portugal, the players flying to the continent the next day for the warm-weather training camp.
Here’s what to expect and what to look out for if you are heading to the game.
Players stepping up and staking their claim
While supporters would naturally like some new faces to watch, the market is not moving as much as Boro would like right now and they’re having to be patient given the higher calibre of player they are ambitiously chasing this summer.
However Wilder was clear in his view that what that does is create opportunities for those at the club.
The ideal scenario for Wilder would be to have two good players competing for every position next season and while that might not be completely possible, his goal to have strong depth and fierce competition for places is clear.
With that in mind, these early pre-season games are an opportunity to stake your claim and earn your spot.
After shaking off a little rust last weekend against
Bishop Auckland, it is a tougher test this time out against York
City and Wilder will want to see the tempo stepped up and for his side to dominate the game as they did at Heritage Park last weekend.
Boro lost this game last summer and it was later in their pre-season programme then, so York are not to be underestimated.
Will any players get extra minutes?
As the season preparations step up it will be interesting to see if the intensity and workload of the players do too.
Wilder played two separate teams in each half at Bishop last weekend, with the exception of in goal as Liam Roberts played the full 90 minutes.
As the players trained on Thursday at Rockliffe the same 21 players were involved, while Luke Daniels was also in training and Caolan BoydMunce was there taking part in the running drills but still missing out on the contact section of the sessions.
Will the 45-minutes-each approach continue at York or will certain players play on beyond the interval?
It is going to be interesting to see but one thing
to
note is how meticulously planned out that will be.
Boro’s injury record after Wilder arrived was mightily impressive and that was not by accident, the boss paying close attention to the club’s medical staff and what their data told them, thus minimising the risk of muscle injuries.
Wilder’s standards are sky high and he will expect a good performance regardless but it’ is important to remember these early games are about building that match sharpness and readying the body for when it really starts at the end of this month at home to West Brom.
Youngsters looking to impress again
There were five youngsters who played at Bishop Auckland and in training on Thursday ahead of this game Bryant Bilongo, Hayden Hackney, Joe Gibson, Sonny Finch and Cal Kavanagh were all still with the first-team squad. The intention right now will be just propping up the numbers as the club continues to work hard on recruitment.
Yet, make no mistake, Wilder will be running the rule over them as he monitors them closely in training and in these early friendlies.
Are any ready to follow in Isaiah Jones’ footsteps and make that step up to the first-team next season? Well, these games are their chance to show they can so look out for them trying to prove it.
New away kit
Last weekend at Bishop Auckland the club wore the new home kit for the very first time. With that officially released and on sale at the club store this morning, there might even be sightings of the new red jersey in the away end at the LNER Community Stadium.
On the pitch Boro are expected to wear their new two-tone blue away kit, which was unveiled earlier than planned this week after an online leak.
The eye-catching design appears to have gone down well with the majority of fans and we will have the first opportunity to see it during a game too with no sighting of the full kit yet.