By Come on Boro.com
February 11 2006

Boro head into the clash with the champions with a 'nothing to lose' attitude and bouyed by the return to the squad of George Boateng. George returns to the squad after being out since 21st December and could possibly start as Lee Cattermole is out with a hamstring problem.

Winger Stewart Downing has recovered from the virus that kept him out of the Coventry match and James Morrison is also back after recovering from a knee injury.

Ray Parlour, Ugo Ehiogu, and Franck Queudrue are still on the injured list but are reported to be very close to making a return.

Malcolm Christie and Tony McMahon are back again and have both played in reserve matches but are not included in today's firs team squad.

For Chelsea, Damien Duff had an achilles problem and misses out and Paulo Ferreira remains doubtful because of a thigh muscle strain.

Defender Ricardo Carvalho, midfielder Claude Makelele and keeper Petr Cech are all set for recalls.

Franck Queudrue told the press yesterday, "I don't want to say Chelsea are untouchable because it's eleven men against eleven men. It is a mental thing. Everybody is saying you can't stop them, so players go into a game thinking that if we draw this game, it would be nice. Then as soon as they concede a goal, they cannot stand up and react."

Chelsea striker Hernan Crespo is aware of his own worth. "The strikers share the matches. The most important thing is you win the trophy. If you win the trophy everything else is second. For me the most important thing is Chelsea. If Chelsea need me for five minutes or ninety minutes, I play. I scored a lot of goals in Italy but I prefer to score less but win something important."

Middlesbrough Squad: Schwarzer, Jones, Parnaby, Taylor, Pogatetz, Southgate, Riggott, Davies, Bates, Boateng, Doriva, Mendieta, Downing, Rochemback, Morrison, Johnson, Yakubu, Hasselbaink, Viduka, Maccarone

Chelsea Squad: Cech, Cudicini, Johnson, Gallas, Terry, Carvalho, del Horno, Huth, Lampard, Maniche, Gudjohnsen, Essien, Makelele, Robben, J Cole, C Cole, Diarra, Wright-Phillips, Crespo, Geremi

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