Team news

No-go O'Neil for Pompey Middlesbrough skipper Gary O'Neil is unlikely to play in the Coca-Cola Championship clash with Sheffield Wednesday.

O'Neil, who is also on nine bookings, was left out of Monday's 2-0 win at Plymouth with a payment of #1million due to former club Portsmouth if he makes one more appearance for Boro under the terms of his transfer deal.

But defender Andrew Taylor is hopeful of winning his battle against the hernia problem which sidelined him at Home Park.

Austria international Emanuel Pogatetz is still struggling with the painful knee injury which has kept him out of the last three games.

Striker Jeremie Aliadiere is back in light training after recovering from a broken toe and could be back later this month but Willo Flood and Matthew Bates (both cruciate ligament), Seb Hines (ankle and knee ligament) and Tony McMahon (stress fracture of the foot) remain on the casualty list.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Alan Irvine is hoping to have Jermaine Johnson back in his squad.

Johnson has been struggling in recent weeks with a hamstring injury and although he appeared for the last 20 minutes in the 1-1 draw at QPR on Saturday, he was left out of the squad on Monday when the Owls went down 1-0 at home to Bristol City.

Defender Lewis Buxton is in a similar situation. He returned at QPR after being out with a hamstring problem since the end of January and missed Monday's fixture, but Irvine hopes he too will be available.

Midfield pair Tommy Miller (calf) and Sean McAllister (stomach) both remain sidelined, but Irvine has no other new injury or suspension problems.

Middlesbrough vs Sheff Wed

Last modified 13:26 21/04/10

McDonald on target to sink Owls Middlesbrough kept alive their outside hopes of a Coca-Cola Championship play-off place with a hard-earned 1-0 win against relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday.

Alan Irvine's side went into the game desperate for a win but were unable to take anything from the Riverside as Scott McDonald's deflected first-half goal proved enough for Boro.

The Owls' cause was hampered before play even began as Leon Clarke was unable to take his place in stating line-up after suffering an injury during the warm-up.

The early setback did not deter the Owls, though, and they could have taken an early lead but for a good double save from Brad Jones, denying Darren Potter and Marcus Tudgay.

Spurred on by their early flourish, Wednesday created another opportunity moments later when Jermaine Johnson's acrobatic bicycle kick went just over the crossbar.

The barrage of pressure continued and Potter again nearly put the visitors ahead, firing a 25-yard effort wide.

Boro started to come into the game midway through the half, though, and began to fashion opportunities of their own.

Their endeavour left them susceptible to a counter-attack and they should have been behind in the 26th minute. Johnson broke away from the Middlesbrough backline and found himself one on one with the Jones before scuffing his effort straight at the Australian stopper.

Wednesday continued to create chances, though, as Darren Purse saw his header saved, before Tommy Spurr fired an excellent ball across the six-yard box which nobody could get on the end of.

Gordon Strachan's men always looked dangerous when they went forward as former Celtic midfielder Barry Robson forced an excellent save from Lee Grant after good link-up play with McDonald.

The Owls paid the price for their lack of cutting edge in front of goal as Middlesbrough took a fortuitous lead five minutes before half-time. McDonald surged towards the Owls' backline before firing a seemingly innocuous 30-yard strike towards goal only for it to take a huge deflection off Mark Beevers, wrong-footing Grant.

Wednesday picked up where they left off after the break but were guilty of gifting the hosts possession with several sloppy passes.

The visitors were certainly showing fight, though, and they twice came close to equalising just after the break. First, the impressive Johnson saw his effort deflected wide, before Luke Varney rattled the crossbar from the resulting corner.

And the Owls were nearly forced to pay for spurning chances again but Grant saved excellently from Rhys Williams.

Irvine brought on Etienne Esajas and Francis Jeffers in a desperate attempt to grab a point and the latter nearly did just that in the 86th minute but was unable to beat Jones.