Middlesbrough have won three of their opening six matches in the Sky Bet Championship after suffering defeat in the Play-Off Final last season. They sit third in the table, having lost one and drawn two of their other league fixtures.
Their season started with a 0-0 draw at Preston North End, before Diego Fabbrini and Kike scored in a 3-0 win at the Riverside. A 1-1 draw with Derby County was followed up by a 0-1 loss at home to Bristol City. Their last two games have been much more positive; two wins over Sheffield Wednesday (3-1) and Milton Keynes Dons (2-0).
Boro are also still alive in the Capital One Cup, having started by beating Oldham Athletic 3-1 in the First Round. They then defeated Burton Albion in a hotly contested match at The Pirelli Stadium. Top scorer Christian Stuani, signed from Espanyol in the summer, scored four of his five goals so far this season in these fixtures.
Among the summer arrivals to North Yorkshire was Stewart Downing; who returned to the club he started his career with after spells at Aston Villa, Liverpool and West Ham. They also signed Jack Stephens [Southampton], Diego Fabbrini [Watford], Tomas Kalas [Chelsea], Alex Baptiste [Bolton Wanderers], Michael Agazzi [AC Milan], Fernando Amorebieta [Fulham] and David Nugent [Leicester City].
Connor Ripley [Motherwell], James Husband [Fulham] and Mustapha Carayol left the club on loan deals recently. While Dean Whitehead [Huddersfield Town], Emmanuel Ledesma [Rotherham United], Luke Williams [Scunthorpe United] and Lee Tomlin [AFC Bournemouth] all left the squad permanently in the summer.
The Gaffer
Aitor Karanka has been in charge of Boro since 2013. The Spaniard started his career as a centre-back with Athletic Bilbao before moving to Real Madrid in 1997. Here he picked up three Champions League winners medals and a La Liga title. He retired from the game in 2006 after a year in the United States with Colorado Rapids.
Real hired him back as Assistant Manager under Jose Mourinho in 2010, where he spent three years before taking the helm at Middlesbrough. In his first season he lifted the club from 18th to 12th in the league. Last season they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League, losing at Wembley to Norwich City.
The Match Officials
Referee: Graham Salisbury.
Assistant Referees: Martin Coy and Matthew McGrath.
Fourth Official: Mark Haywood
Ticket News
Brentford fans will be able to pay at the stadium tonight. You can hear the live match commentary on Bees Player from 7.30pm tonight, with commentators Chris Wickham and Billy Reeves.