Preston's on-loan Blackburn midfielder Amine Linganzi looks likely to miss out with a groin injury.
Youngster Conor McLaughlin jarred his knee against Leicester and is also expected to be sidelined.
MATCH PREVIEW
Middlesbrough, unbeaten in four league games and fresh from a 4-0 thrashing of Bristol City last time out, finally seem to have turned a corner. So they will not want to slip up against the Championship's bottom side, who are looking for their first win under new manager Phil Brown.
Ominously for North End, while Boro have had major problems this season they have shown little mercy towards other struggling teams, winning all four of their matches against sides in the bottom four.
Brown is trying to engineer the kind of recovery Tony Mowbray has since being appointed as Boro boss, but he faces a tough task. Preston, whose last win against the Teessiders was in April 1972, are three points adrift at the bottom and have won only one of their last 12 league matches.
Boro's recent bounce has been in no small part down to the form of striker Leroy Lita, who has netted four goals in his last four league games. He may relish the opportunity to continue that hot streak against a team that has been woeful at the back.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
• A win for Middlesbrough would be the club's 25th at home to Preston.
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• Boro are unbeaten in seven league matches against North End.
Middlesbrough
• Only eight players have scored league goals for Boro this season.
• The Teessiders have lost half of their league matches (13 of 26).
• Gary O'Neil is in line for his 300th league appearance and Andrew Taylor his 150th.
Preston
• Preston have lost 60% of their league matches this season (15 of 25) and have won only two of their last 16.
• They have kept only three clean sheets, and have squandered more points from winnng positions (21) than any other team in the division.
• Darren Carter is hoping to make his 200th career league appearance.
Source: BBC Sport
Source: BBC Sport