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  1. Pick of the stats: Bolton Wanderers v Middlesbroughpublished at 12:09 BST

    The Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough club crests side by side

    Bolton and Middlesbrough meet for the first time in seven years on Friday night (20:00 BST).

    Boro come into the game on a 10-match unbeaten run while Bolton recovered from losing at home to 10-man Stoke by winning at Wolves and becoming the first side to deny Southampton at home with a 0-0 draw at St Mary's last weekend.

    • Bolton have lost their past four home league games against Middlesbrough, twice as many defeats as across their prior 27 meetings combined between September 1951 and January 2014.

    • Middlesbrough have won each of their past eight league games against Bolton Wanderers; it is their longest winning run against a side in their Football League history.

    • Bolton have lost just one of their past five league games (W3 D1), picking up as many points (10) as in their previous 12 league matches (W2 D4 L6).

    • Middlesbrough have struck 22 goals across their opening 11 Championship matches this season, their most at this stage of a campaign since 1986-87 in the third tier and their most in the second tier since 1963-64 (27).

    • Middlesbrough lead the Championship this season for build-up attacks (48) and passes per sequence (4.2), while only Cardiff City (9.8) have a lower PPDA value than their 9.9.

  2. Middlesbrough 2-2 Cardiff City - fans' verdictspublished at 10:40 BST 19 October

    A black banner with the words 'Your Opinions' written across in white lettering next to an image of a megaphone

    We asked for Boro fans' thoughts after Middlesbrough came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at home to Cardiff at The Riverside.

    Boss Kim Hellberg rested leading scorer Will Lankshear and Seb Berhalter before introducing both at half-time with the hosts trailing 2-0 - but despite fighting back to claim a point, Boro missed the chance to go top of the table.

    Here are some of your comments:

    Nick: All down to KH, why did he go for Joseph and Ayling to start? If it's not broke, don't fix it!

    Richie: I am enjoying the belief the attackers have and, let's face it, they have saved or gained points in four games in the dying minutes. Boro will not be top two if they don't start learning lessons and showing progress. A very poor manager's decision has cost Boro points at home. Why rest the league's best striker 10 games in? Malanda Is NOT a midfielder. Third, why continue playing out from the back when midfield lose the ball cheaply? Fourth question is why have a defence if they are not chasing back and putting in a tackle.

    Mo: Why did Kim change a winning team? He obviously underestimated Cardiff by giving Will a match off!! Malanda is better in the back four and not in midfield. Sorry Kim but this was your fault!

    Malcolm: Manager Kim has worked wonders to get Boro competing this season but too much fiddling with selection cost us two points today. Playing a centre back in midfield and not starting the leading striker in our league were mistakes. I should also like to mention that Brynn should start in goal. The new signing is certainly not a improvement on Sol.

    Jamie: Malanda is one of the best centre backs in the division - he needs to play there and not in midfield. I love Ayling, but he shouldn't be in the starting XI. Rest Lankshear by all means, but let him give us a lead first, then sub him. That said, this could be a very handy point come the end of the season - Cardiff are far better than their league position would suggest.