Middlesbrough V Sunderland at The Riverside Stadium : Match Preview

Injury worries for Boro ahead of Cup tie Middlesbrough striker Scott McDonald's season could be over as he starts the process of battling his way back from a knee injury ahead of the FA Cup fourth round replay with Sunderland.The Australia international leads the list of players unavailable to manager Tony Mowbray after being told he faces at least 10-12 weeks on the sidelines with medial ligament damage. Mowbray will be able to call upon former Black Cats man Julio Arca after he completed the three-match ban which kept him out of the 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light. However, midfielder Faris Haroun (hamstring) and striker Marvin Emnes (calf) are both being assessed ahead of the game, as is midfielder Barry Robson, who did not play at the weekend after having a cast put on his hand to protect a dislocated finger. Keeper Danny Coyne (calf), midfielders Nicky Robson (knee) and Merouane Zemmama (hernia surgery) and striker Bart Ogbeche (hamstring) will miss out. Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill will be without loan signings Wayne Bridge and Sotirios Kyrgiakos. The pair, who joined the club on loan as the winter transfer window drew to a close, did not arrive in time to be registered for the competition. Skipper Lee Cattermole will miss out once again as a result of the hamstring problem which kept him out of the initial game against his former club, while Nicklas Bendtner (broken nose), Wes Brown (knee), David Vaughan and Matt Kilgallon (both ankle) and Titus Bramble (Achilles/calf) remain on the sidelines. The Black Cats needed a second-half equaliser from the returning Fraizer Campbell to book their trip to the Riverside Stadium after Barry Robson had fired the npower Championship visitors into a deserved lead in the first game, and O'Neill is expecting life to be no easier second time around.He said: "If you could guarantee me winning the game in extra-time, going into penalty kicks or whatever the case may be, just to be out in front at the end, it wouldn't worry me. "I can't look too far into the future. Of course, in an ideal world it would have been great if we had been able to win the game at the first time of asking."That was always hard and I think the game is very, very much in the balance." Middlesbrough V Sunderland - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game live.

Source: PA