Team news

O'Neil available for Boro Middlesbrough boss Gordon Strachan will have skipper Gary O'Neil at his disposal for the final two games of the season.

O'Neil belatedly made his 100th appearance for the club in last weekend's 2-0 defeat at West Brom after the Teessiders reached agreement with his former club Portsmouth over an additional payment and is available once again as Coventry head to the North East.

Utility man Rhys Williams continues to battle against a pelvic injury which has hampered him for several weeks and striker Leroy Lita had missed training because of a virus but both are expected to be back in contention.

Jeremie Aliadiere (broken toe) and Luke Williams (knee) played for the reserves in midweek and could be available but David Wheater, who sat out the West Brom game with an ankle injury, is likely to be sidelined once again.

Emanuel Pogatetz and Willo Flood (both knee), Seb Hines (ankle and medial ligament), Tony McMahon (stress fracture of the foot) and Matthew Bates (cruciate ligament) remain on the casualty list.

Martin Cranie has emerged as a doubt for the trip to the Riverside while the participation of on-loan striker Freddie Sears also remains in the balance.

Left-back Cranie, who started last weekend`s 1-1 home draw against Preston, has suffered a knee problem and will continue to be monitored ahead of the clash.

Sears, meanwhile, missed the visit of North End altogether having limped out of training last Thursday, and the same ankle injury is again threatening his involvement.

Midfielder Aron Gunnarsson shrugged off a thigh/hip problem to start against the Lancashire outfit and the Iceland international has suffered no ill-effects.

Middlesbrough 1-1 Coventry

Last modified 15:27 26/04/10

Aron Gunnarsson insists he has dropped what he calls “the German porn star look”.

But after scoring Coventry’s equaliser, his first goal in a year, the midfielder claims his dodgy mullet stays – for the good of team morale.

The Icelander’s girlfriend made him shave off the droopy moustache she said made him look like he had stepped off an adult film set.

He said: “The German porn star look has gone for good because my missus just wasn’t happy about it.

“But I’ll keep the mullet, even though I get loads of stick for it. It’s caused plenty of banter and it’s lifted the lads. I don’t mind being the butt of a few jokes if it helps team spirit.”

Gunnarsson cancelled out Scott McDonald’s fourth goal since a ££3.5million January move from Celtic as Boro stretched their four-month unbeaten home record in a game to forget.

Gordon Strachan has been told to keep his cheque book shut at this summer’s World Cup. The Boro boss is in South Africa as a TV pundit, but fans hope he steers clear of the high-profile flops seen at the Riverside down the years.

Afonso Alves, Marvin Emnes, Massimo Maccarone, Hamilton Ricard cost small fortunes for little in return.

As they prepare for another season in the Championship, Boro will be shopping at Aldi rather than Harrods and Barry Robson said: “Hopefully there’ll be some good players the manager can sign. He’s not going to break the bank because we haven’t got that kind of money any more.”

Robson played down fears Strachan faces a mutiny over plans to take them to La Manga in Spain for a week during their summer holidays.

The Boro skipper added: “We have eight weeks off which is a long time.

“We’ll have a week off in the middle of that as a team. We’ll do fitness work and maybe get a round of golf, so we’re all looking forward to it.”