Middlesbrough
boss Chris Wilder has insisted Chelsea do not need sympathy as he prepares
to send his side into FA Cup quarter-final battle with them.
The two clubs meet at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday evening with the
Blues having been plunged into uncertainty by the sanctions imposed on owner
Roman Abramovich following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Chelsea expecting 670 fans at
Middlesbrough
Chelsea will have just 670 fans at their FA Cup quarter-final at
Middlesbrough on Saturday night.
The 670 fans bought their tickets before owner Roman Abramovich was
sanctioned last Thursday. As there are only 670 of them, the away end has
been reconfigured to accommodate more home fans. Middlesbrough put on sale
an extra 3,200 tickets on Wednesday and the game is now sold out.
Middlesbrough have also announced on their website that they will be
donating their share of gate receipts from the game to humanitarian aid in
Ukraine. That is likely to be about £300,000.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday morning, Wilder said:
"Somebody comes into your football club, invests hundreds of millions of
pounds and turns it into - it had history before - what it has turned into,
serial trophy-winning teams, world-class managers, world-class players,
world-class infrastructure, a women's team that wins everything, and youth
team and an academy that's the best in the country, that wins the Youth Cup.
"It will go up for sale and it will be bought by a billionaire, who will
possibly invest more money into it, they'll possibly invest in the stadium,
invest in the facilities, so I don't think there's, in the football world,
an incredible amount of sympathy over what's happening, really, and I don't
think Chelsea supporters would expect that as well.
"It will be a short period before the takeover and Chelsea will go again and
they'll go on from strength to strength."
Team news: Middlesbrough boss Chris Wilder will welcome striker Andraz
Sporar back into the squad for Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final clash with
Premier League Chelsea.
Sporar has missed the Sky Bet Championship club's last two games through
illness but is available once again.
He will be joined in the squad by midfielder James Lea Siliki, who has also
sat out recently after feeling unwell.
Defender Anfernee Dijksteel has shown no ill-effects following his return
from illness in Tuesday night's 2-0 win at Birmingham, but Riley McGree and
Martin Payero remain on the sidelines.
Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Andreas Christensen all face a race
against time to be fit for Chelsea. England full-back James has a leg muscle
issue, with Hudson-Odoi battling an Achilles concern.
Christensen trudged out of Wednesday's Champions League win at Lille with a
muscle problem. And now all three players have a "tight race" to be ready
for the Blues' FA Cup quarter-final trip.
How to follow on Sky Sports: Follow Middlesbrough vs Chelsea in our
dedicated live blog across Sky Sports' digital platforms. Follow the
semi-final draw live on the Sky Sports app and website at 5.30pm on Sunday.
Opta stats
Since recording back-to-back Premier League wins over Jose Mourinho's
Chelsea in February and August 2006, Middlesbrough have lost each of their
last eight matches with the Blues in all competitions without scoring a
single goal.
Only against Crystal Palace (9) and Bolton Wanderers (10) are Chelsea on a
current longer winning run in all competitions than against Middlesbrough
(8), with the Blues netting 19 times without conceding across this spell.
Chelsea have won three of the previous four FA Cup clashes with
Middlesbrough, only losing in the third round in 1993. One of those previous
matchups was the 1997 showpiece, when Middlesbrough - appearing in their
first and only FA Cup final - suffered a 2-0 defeat at Wembley thanks to
goals from Roberto Di Matteo and Eddie Newton.
Middlesbrough are appearing in their first FA Cup quarter-final since
2016-17, when they lost 2-0 at home to Pep Guardiola's Man City. They've
been eliminated at this stage on each of the last four occasions they've
reached the final eight, since making the semi-finals in 2005-06 under Steve
McClaren.
Middlesbrough have eliminated two Premier League clubs en route to the
quarter-finals, beating Man Utd on penalties and Spurs via extra-time. This
is the first time since 1991-92 (Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester City)
they've knocked out multiple top-flight clubs in the same FA Cup season when
playing outside of the division themselves, with Wigan in 2017-18 the most
recent such side to do so on three occasions.
Chelsea have gone on to progress from 15 of their last 19 FA Cup
quarter-final ties, with only Everton (26), Man Utd and Arsenal (both 30)
reaching the final four on more occasions than the Blues in the
competition's history (25 times).
Thomas Tuchel has progressed from each of his last seven ties at the
quarter-final stage across all competitions as both PSG and Chelsea manager,
a run which started halfway through the 2018-19 campaign (Coupe de France
x2, Coupe de la Ligue, Champions League x2, FA Cup, League Cup).
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