Under-fire boss Paul Ince is in desperate need of a win when his Blackpool side host Middlesbrough at Bloomfield Road on Saturday.

Having looked like genuine automatic promotion candidates for much of the first half of the season, Blackpool have fallen away since the start of December, losing seven and drawing one of their last eight matches.

That torrid run of form has seen them slip down from first to 12th in the Championship table, four points behind sixth-placed Ipswich Town.

The hosts have only won one of their last five games in front of their own fans, and will be without the suspended Kirk Broadfoot on Saturday as they look to improve that record.

Michael Chopra's outburst at the club's training schedule could see him relegated to the bench, but questions over the future of Thomas Ince shouldn't prevent the midfielder starting.

Middlesbrough, meanwhile, will be looking to get back to winning ways having seen their FA Cup hopes dashed by Hull City on Saturday.

They have gone four games without defeat in the league and would leapfrog Blackpool in the table if they can extend that run to five with a win.

To do that, however, they will need to improve their poor away record, which saw them win just twice on their travels in 2013.

Aitor Karanka could be without Kei Kamara and Jonathan Woodgate for the match, both of whom will undergo late fitness tests.

Recent form

Blackpool: LLDLLL

Middlesbrough: LWWWDL

Possible starting lineups

Blackpool: Gilks; Basham, Cathcart, Mackenzie, Robinson; Ince, Cervera, Ferguson, Bishop, Gosling; Fuller

Middlesbrough: Given; Williams, Gibson, Ayala, Friend; Leadbitter, Smallwood, Emnes, Ledesma, Adomah; Main

Sports Mole says: 1-1