Good morning and welcome to Eurosport's LIVE text commentary of the Premier League clash between Middlesbrough and Manchester United at the Riverside Stadium. The hosts, without a win in 10 games, parted company with manager Aitor Karanka on Thursday and today represents an opportunity for caretaker boss Steve Agnew to stake a claim for the job. But it won't be easy as Manchester United look to get back to winning ways and keep their hopes of a top-four finish alive.
Premier League / Matchday 29
Riverside Stadium / 19.03.2017
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- R. Gestede(77')
- M. Fellaini(30')
- J. Lingard(62')
- A. Valencia(90+3')
Live
Live Updates
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Updated 19/03/2017 at 13:52 GMT
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11:45
There's a lot of unhappy tweeters on social media this morning and the general opinion is that Mourinho is being too conservative against a team struggling at the bottom end of the table. Rob Dawson, of the Manchester Evening News, says the visitors "only have two dangerous attacking players in the team” - Mata and Rashford.
11:40
Some morning reading for Manchester United fans. How do you feel, would you like Mourinho to stay at the club long-term?
11:35
Manchester United are six points off the top four but have two games in hand over their great rivals Liverpool. They're unbeaten in eight league meetings against Boro and were last defeated 4-1 on Teesside in October 2005 (W5, D3).
11:30
Mourinho is likely playing mind games in his pre-match interview but it wouldn't be at all surprising if Boro get something here today. Steve Agnew simply has to be more attacking minded than his predecessor and there's a new sense of belief at the Riverside today.
11:25
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho on his side's fixture congestion: "I don't think it's a funny situation. When I watch marathons and people go to their limit, I don't think it is funny, and I don't think it's funny some of my players in six weeks play 11 matches.
"Play on Monday with 10 men, enjoying five hours the M6 coming back to Manchester. People can ask why was (Phil) Jones playing on the left with so many difficulties. He was playing on the left because he could run and Marcos (Rojo) couldn't run.
"We are living all these things and let's see if Sunday we get a point. That would be great result."
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11:20
Middlesbrough's caretaker boss Steve Agnew: "I have to be honest, [Thursday] was a really difficult and emotional day.
"Aitor Karanka put in incredible work over the last three and a half years. I really enjoyed his work and his company during my two and a half years working with him.
"But today the players have trained well and we look forward to the weekend."
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Image credit: PA Sport
11:15
Meanwhile, caretaker boss Steve Agnew rings the changes for Boro. Alvaro Negredo, Stewart Downing and Gaston Ramirez are restored in attack with Adama Traore dropped to the bench while Antonio Barragan starts in defence.
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Image credit: Reuters
11:10
Manchester United are set up in a 3-4-3 system to play Boro with Marcus Rashford spearheading the attack alongside Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard while Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial drop to the bench.
11:06
11:05