n said. Since that game, I thought theyve been more engage

Middlesbrough will enjoy their first Premier League road trip in eight years on Sunday, but the journey will only be a short one up the A19 to face neighbours Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.Sundays face-off will be the first Wear-Tees derby since 2012 and first league meeting between the two clubs since 2009. However, even at this early stage of the season, the result could have far-reaching consequences for two teams amongst the favourites for relegation.Sunderland only narrowly avoided going down a division last season, finishing just a place and two points above relegated rivals Newcastle. The Black Cats have since lost manager Sam Allardyce to the England national team job.In contrast, Middlesbrough achieved automatic promotion with a second-place finish in the Championship. They have managed to not only keep their highly-rated manager Aitor Karanka, but also strengthen the squad significantly during the summer transfer window.A derby match in the second week of their top-flight return poses a real test of Boros Premier League credentials, but vice-captain George Friend believes the fixture also offers an opportunity.I dont feel any extra pressure in having the derby match so early in the season… if anything it is a good game for us, because as players you relish these derby ties, Friend said.They are tough games because they are probably a bit more frantic and played in a big atmosphere, but well go there with loads of confidence and knowing we have to raise our levels and be at our best. When you step up a division you have to do that, raise the bar, and there is nothing like a derby match to make sure you do that.Boro drew 1-1 with Stoke City on the opening day of the season. Star signing Alvaro Negredo opened his account for the club by finishing a chance produced by fellow summer addition Gaston Ramirez (who completed a permanent move from Southampton after excelling on loan at the club in the second half of last season).However, Marten de Roon -- another high-profile acquisition -- suffered a hamstring injury in the game and is unlikely to feature against Sunderland. Defenders Daniel Ayala, Bernardo Espinosa and James Husband are expected to miss out through injury and club captain Grant Leadbitter remains sidelined with an inguinal hernia.Sunderland go into the game on the back of a disappointing but encouraging 2-1 defeat to Manchester City. They look likely to be without the services of experienced centre-back Younes Kaboul after the Wearside club agreed a fee with Watford for the players transfer. The loss of Kaboul comes as a blow to a squad with already limited defensive resources.Further forward in the team there is a greater strength in depth, with new boss David Moyes bringing in Manchester Uniteds Adnan Januzaj on loan to add a spark to the attack. Januzaj emerged at United during Moyes tenure at Old Trafford, but has since fallen away from regular first-team contention and is relishing the opportunity to play Premier League matches again at Sunderland.The manager has given me the opportunity to come here and prove myself again, Januzaj told the clubs official website. I came here to play games and Im looking forward to working with David Moyes again.I always enjoy playing in his teams with the freedom and the confidence he gives me.Januzaj may be limited to an impact role given the high intensity nature of the fixture and his recent arrival at the club, but will be expected to come on during the second half. However, Moyes wont have the same luxury with Sebastian Larsson, as the creative midfielder is out until early 2017 due to a knee ligament injury.Defensive midfield is also a concern for the Sunderland boss, with Lee Cattermole and Jan Kirchhoff both struggling with shorter-term injury issues.Moyes, however, will be looking to draw on the positive record he had against Middlesbrough during his time at Everton -- losing to Boro just twice in 14 total meetings.Wholesale Custom Predators Shirts . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. Cheap Predators Jerseys . Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans. http://www.custompredatorsjersey.com/ .C. - The Carolina Hurricanes have placed backup goalie Anton Khudobin on injured reserve with an unspecified lower-body injury. Custom Predators Jerseys . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. Cheap Custom Predators Jersey .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy.CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Injuries to starting quarterbacks are creeping up in the Big 12, highlighting the need for backups to be prepared for significant playing time.Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said Monday that the status of FBS total offense leader Patrick Mahomes is day-to-day. Mahomes left last weeks game against Kansas after going down hard on his right (throwing) shoulder and he didnt return.If Mahomes isnt ready, junior Nic Shimonek would get his first career start Saturday for Texas Tech (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) at Kansas State (2-2, 0-1).Oklahomas Baker Mayfield tweaked his right ankle when he was sacked by TCUs Josh Carraway and fumbled in the second quarter Saturday. Mayfields ankle was heavily taped at halftime and he returned to the field. Coach Bob Stoops said Mayfield is a little bit sore but hell be ready to go when the 20th-ranked Sooners (2-2, 1-0) play Texas (2-2, 0-1) in their annual rivalry game Saturday in Dallas.The injuries are a wakeup call not only for the need to having reserves ready, but for opposing teams to prepare to face them.Just in case, Oklahoma has freshman Austin Kendall, who threw two touchdown passes against Louisiana-Monroe earlier this season. And Shimonek completed 15 of 21 passes with four TDs in the 55-19 win Saturday over Kansas State. He also got extensive work in Texas Techs season opener against Stephen F. Austin.I was excited to see him get his opportunity, Kingsbury said. It was fun for me to get to see him do it out under the lights and I thought he handled himself very well.Kingsbury said Shimonek just showed up at Texas Tech two summers ago as a walk-on transfer from Iowa. He had to work his way up the depth chart, playing behind Mahomes and Davis Webb in 2015.We could tell he could throw pretty well, we didnt know what we had on our hands, Kingsbury said. What jumped out to me was his work ethic. He made himself the player that he is. Ive got to give him all the credit.Kansas State coach Bill Snyder was impressed by Shimoneks accuracy and confidence.It didnt look to me like there was any drrop off from Mahomes, Snyder said.dddddddddddd Obviously Texas Tech is doing it the right way because that youngster came in and played so very well.Teams like Texas, Iowa State and Kansas use their backup quarterbacks regularly. For other teams that dont, youve got to keep them sharp, give them reps, continue to remind them that theyre one play away, said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen.West Virginia got a scare in its season opener when Skyler Howard hurt his ribs against Missouri and sat out a few series. Two backups had turnovers during brief stints, and Holgorsen said that was an eye opener for them.Our backup quarterbacks werent ready to go in there, Holgorsen said. Since that game, I thought theyve been more engaged and practiced better to the point to where if that happens again, theyre going to be more ready to play.Other news from the Big 12 coaches teleconference:-No. 13 Baylor (5-0, 2-0) hasnt allowed a point in the fourth quarter all season, and interim coach Jim Grobe attributes that in part to conditioning and becoming familiar with the opponents offense. But after a nail-biting 45-42 win over Iowa State, Grobe said his team needs to correct its mistakes during a bye week, particularly on defense.Weve got to get back to being a better fundamental football team, Grobe said.-TCU coach Gary Patterson said he doesnt believe the winner of the Big 12 race will come out unscathed in league play. Baylor, No. 22 West Virginia, Texas Tech and Oklahoma are the remaining teams that havent lost in Big 12 games.Theres a chance, because where everybody has to go to, that the winner of this league may have two losses. It could be one, Patterson said. For me theres a lot of parity in it.-After Texas got three extra points blocked at Oklahoma State, one of which was returned for two points, Longhorns coach Charlie Strong promised that the problem will be fixed.We didnt do a good job of reacting to it, he said. ' ' '