Middlesbrough host Sheffield Wednesday at the Riverside on Wednesday with the chance to complete a league double over the visitors for the first time since 2015-16.
The season has served up small margins between these two: Middlesbrough won the reverse fixture 1-0 in October, while Sheffield Wednesday beat Middlesbrough 2-1 at Hillsborough in April 2025. A win on Wednesday would give Middlesbrough a rare sweep of the pair for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign.
Those results sit against a wider set of numbers that push this game beyond a routine midweek fixture. Middlesbrough are winless in their last six home league games and have lost their last two at the Riverside; Sheffield Wednesday, meanwhile, have lost 15 of their 21 Championship away matches this season and have managed just one victory on their travels.
Injury lines are a live factor for both clubs. Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Ipswich Town came after Riley McGree picked up a training-ground knock before the match, and managers are weighing availability. On that subject, Kim Hellberg said: "It’s a small knock with Riley, but he couldn’t play this game. It’s one of those things that can happen on the training pitch, a small knock. I hope he will be back on Wednesday, that is my hope. If not, it should hopefully be Saturday, it should not be a big thing."
Hellberg stressed progress on another name on the teamsheet list by adding: "Leo travelled with us. He did his first training session [on Saturday], so it’s now about trying to get him back to the group and involved again. We will see if he is ready on Wednesday or Saturday, but it is getting closer for him."
The availability of Hayden Hackney is more uncertain and carries weight for Middlesbrough’s home attack. Hackney has been involved in eight home league goals this season — three goals and five assists — and Hellberg warned of the difficulty of timing his return: "Hayden is more difficult because it’s really just a case of waiting with him. When it’s done, he can go back out onto the grass and we can go. It’s very difficult to get an exact timeframe for it. We will see. Maybe it’s the Wrexham game, but it’s difficult to know because he hasn’t been able to go out onto the grass yet."
The contrast is sharp. Middlesbrough need a positive result at home to arrest a worrying streak that, if extended, would echo the last time they lost three home league games in a row back in April 2022. Sheffield Wednesday arrive with away form that underlines how brittle they have been away from Hillsborough, but their April win over Middlesbrough is the reminder that on a given day the fixtures between these clubs can bite back.
Tactical and selection questions are the real tension here. If McGree is cleared, Middlesbrough could restore creativity on the ball; if Hackney is absent, the hosts lose a central figure in their home output. For Sheffield Wednesday, a stubborn away performance would exploit any continuing home frailties — but their record of one away win this season and 15 defeats on the road suggests that taking three points at the Riverside will not be straightforward.
This match will likely turn on those fine margins. Middlesbrough can complete a league double they have not achieved in a decade, but doing so at a ground where they have failed to win in six league games will require more than the memory of October’s 1-0 victory; it will require the selection decisions over McGree and Hackney to fall in their favour.
