West Brom’s effort to win their first three league games since 1997/98 will take them to the Riverside to face another pre-season promotion favourite, Middlesbrough.

Under James Morrison, the Baggies have been more than impressive in Championship action, even taking Premier League rivals Newcastle United all the way to defeat in their EFL Cup clash on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Borough have been sluggish to get going in league competition, winning late against League One champions Lincoln City on the first day before squandering a lead and losing to Blackburn Rovers last weekend.

Kim Hellberg’s side will be hoping to build on their cup success at Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday to win again against one of the current pacesetters, but these three players will not be included.

Tommy Conway

With Ashley Phillips making his Middlesbrough debut at Doncaster on Tuesday night and contributing the third goal, Kim Hellberg has almost a full-strength squad to pick from.

Tommy Conway, last season’s second highest scorer, is the only notable absentee as he continues to heal from a fractured ankle sustained in the play-off semi-final against Southampton, which kept him out of the final and the World Cup with Scotland this summer.

Middlesbrough’s best Championship scorers in 2025/26

Pos

Player

Goals

1. Morgan Whittaker.

14

2. Tommy Conway 13.

3. David Strelec.

8

4) Hayden Hackney

5

5) Riley McGree

5

He will be on the sidelines for one to three weeks.

Alex Bangura

Alex Bangura has only made 27 appearances for Borough in three seasons due to serious injury concerns, including an Achilles ailment that forced him to miss the whole 2024/25 season.

The 27-year-old missed the whole pre-season and has yet to play in any of Middlesbrough’s four competitive games this season.

Mikey Johnston

West Brom’s absentee list is among the shortest in the Championship. Tammer Bany returned to the Baggies off the bench against Newcastle on Wednesday, making only his ninth appearance for the club in 18 months.

Aune Heggebo is also poised to return to action after serving a two-game suspension for “successfully deceiving a match official” during the cup tie in midweek.

Mikey Johnston, on the other hand, will miss the rest of the season as he heals from an ankle injury suffered in the first few games. The Irishman has been linked with a move to Derby County in the last week, but his absence is not related to that.

Johnston missed practically the whole season as Morrison’s caretaker manager due to an ankle fracture sustained in his first game against Oxford United in late February.

He played in the EFL Cup first round against Rotherham United and was in Norwich City’s squad on the first day, but he has missed the following two matchday squads and will miss a third on Saturday.