Middlesbrough V Wigan

Poor Gareth, his team have had a really bad run and they'll be targeting this game as a must win and truth be told, it really is a must win game for Boro but Wigan don't concede many goals at the moment with a confident back four, including Mario Melchiot, Titus Bramble, Paul Scharner and Maynor Figueroa.

Figueroa has really come out of his shell of late and that's really encouraging - he's been putting in some decent performances and was by far the man of the match at Villa Park. Hopefully he'll be here for the long run.

The reserves game was also encouraging in which Ben Watson was the catalyst for a great performance, despite an unfair result.

Amr Zaki has been getting a lot of bad press about his goal scoring drought but I just have a feeling he might score at the riverside and Boro will feel confident about getting a draw at West Ham - I just cannot see where Boro's goals are going to come from, here.

I think they'll put in a hard working performance and eventually, both teams will cancel each other out but I suspect that Wigan might just nick this one because I am trying to determine who is going to score for Boro.

Not that I have anything against the boys in red and white - I hope they have a better end to the season than what they've had to endure, so far.

WIGAN: PLAYER TO WATCH
======================

Amr Zaki: Got a feeling if the lad's fit he will add to his goal scoring tally again. I can just smell it.

BORO: PLAYER TO WATCH
=====================

Stewart Downing: Always a danger and will be a threat to Latics during a tightly contested match.

ROB'S PREDICTION
=================

These types of games are often hard to predict because of the circumstances of Boro's position but they will be given confidence from their result at West Ham. They didn't play badly at Man City, either. This is going to be a tight game because the Latics haven't conceded many. I just think that Wigan might nick a 1 goal victory here.

MIDDLESBROUGH 0 WIGAN 1 (ZAKI 90TH MIN)

ROB'S FINAL THOUGHT
====================

Will Boro beat the relegation trap? I'm not so sure. They might but its all about the installation of confidence into the team. I'm not sure if the damage has been done already but its going to be a real battle - good luck to Boro and Latics for the rest of the season. Oh, by the way, Lawro has predicted a Boro win. Typical! Will he ever give the Latics credit... don't hold yer breath!

For the very latest Premier League odds

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.