McAllister pleased with Boro preparation

City are fifth in the Sky Bet Championship, five points ahead of their seventh-placed opponents ahead of the televised encounter.

A win for the home side would therefore extend the gap to eight points, while Boro would go two points within City with a victory of their own.

City head into the tie following their incredible 3-2 win against Hull City last weekend, although they were defeated 2-1 by Preston North End in their last appearance at the Gate.

Assistant head coach McAllister says the Hull result has buoyed the players as they look to get back to winning ways on home soil.

He told BCTV: "There's five points between us at the moment so it's a six-pointer....we want to try and get as many points on the board as possible by the New Year.

"The lads have been outstanding in training in the last few days. The tempo, intensity and quality of training has been class so we're their managing workload because we do have a lot of injuries.

"It's been a very good start for us but we could be higher in the table. We have got to keep doing the basics well, being organised, keep working hard for each other and focus on the next game. That is all you can look at. You can only affect what happens next.

"The next game is against Middlesbrough and we want to get back to winning ways at home after the defeat against Preston, so that is our focus."