Middlesbrough suffered another frustrating draw last time out at Stoke City and will be looking to get back to winning ways this weekend.

They face a Wigan side that, after a strong start, has stuttered slightly of late and so, clearly, both are in need of three points.

Ahead of the game, then, we spoke to OneBoro blogger Matt Strachan (@MattStrachan89) to talk all things Teesside...

Wigan's form has dipped of late - is this the perfect game to get back to winning ways?

To be honest, if you'd mentioned Rotherham at home then I would have expected a win. Wigan on the other hand I think are quite a decent outfit who are regularly undermined. In a strange way, I'd rather play a recently relegated Prem team as opposed to a newly promoted League 1 team, momentum is key in football and Wigan haven't had any problems taking scalps off the big boys like West Brom.

I think this could be a potential banana skin and a team we shouldn't take lightly.

Both Lewis Wing and Marcus Tavernier came on against Stoke - do either deserve a starting place this weekend?

Not quite yet, they're both young and inexperienced but if any of the two might get a look in it's Tavernier, we need wingers and he fits the bill.

Elsewhere across the pitch, what other changes would you make for this one?

Pulis is very restricted because he can't play the way he wants to. So currently, we're overloaded in the middle but Tavernier may come in but I can't see Pulis trusting him quite yet, January will be key for Boro.

Danny Batth seems to have impressed in recent weeks. When the squad is at full-strength does he get into the side now?

I was really impressed by Batth, he seemed like an old school centre-back who did what was required. Maybe controversially, I'd quite like to see a Ayala/Batth combo at centre-half and see how it goes for the Wigan game.

Score prediction

I have a lot of respect for Wigan and I think they'll be a handful. I'll go 1-0 Boro with a few post-Halloween scares for Randolph.