Newport v Middlesbrough betting preview, tips, team news and TV channel

BT Sport 2, 7.45pm Tuesday

Newport are carving out a reputation as giant-killers and they could take Sky Bet Championship highflyers Middlesbrough to extra-time in their FA Cup fourth-round replay at Rodney Parade.

There is an obvious incentive with a fifth-round home tie against Manchester City up for grabs, but the match comes at a tricky time for Boro, who are involved in a hotly contested promotion race.

Tony Pulis has spoken warmly about the FA Cup and insists he will not take Newport lightly.

But his top priority this week will be Saturday's league match at home to Leeds, which could have a huge bearing on the outcome of their season.

Sky Bet Championship standings

Pulis selected an experienced side for last month's home game against Newport but it wasn't enough to get through the tie.

Newport competed well throughout and substitute Matthew Dolan's injury-time goal earned them a well-deserved 1-1 draw.

The Exiles should feel even more confident of putting in a strong performance in south Wales, where they have done so well against the big teams.

During last season's FA Cup run they won 2-1 at home to Leeds and were on the brink of knocking out Tottenham until Harry Kane's 82nd minute goal salvaged a 1-1 draw.

And they surpassed that experience against Leicester last month with Padraig Amond's coolly taken penalty sealing an astonishing 2-1 victory.

There has been a downside to Newport's FA Cup heroics as their Sky Bet League Two matches have taken a back seat.

Sky Bet League Two standings

Mike Flynn's side were in the playoff places in mid-December but have won just one of their last nine league games and were soundly beaten 3-0 at Grimsby on Saturday.

But they are highly unlikely to go down (13 points separate them from the drop zone) and all of their energies will be focused on getting a good result against Boro and setting up arguably the biggest match in their history.

Flynn will have fresh players coming back into the side having left first-team regulars Joe Day, Mark O'Brien, Dan Butler, Robbie Willmott, Scott Bennett and Amond out of the starting line-up at Grimsby.

And his approach to the match contrasts sharply with that of Pulis, who will be mindful of giving a breather to some of the players who battled to a 3-2 victory at West Brom on Saturday.

Even a full-strength Boro side would probably have their hands full on a heavy pitch against such highly motivated opponents.

Everything points to another evenly balanced match and it may require extra time or a penalty shootout to settle the issue.

Recommendation
Draw
1pt 11-4 bet365

Bet on this match at Soccerbase.com

Team news
Newport
Ben Kennedy and Ade Azeez are cup-tied and Fraser Franks (ankle) is out but Robbie Wilmott (dead leg) and Scott Bennett (virus) are likely to come back into the side.

Middlesbrough
Lewis Wing (groin) is a doubt and changes are likely as Tony Pulis looks ahead to Saturday's key league fixture at home to Leeds.

Key stat
Newport have lost one of their last 14 home fixtures.

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