Middlesbrough boss Chris Wilder has claimed that the energy of a full crowd at the Riverside Stadium will help his side ahead of their clash with Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday. It comes after the Blues put in a request to the FA for the game to be played behind closed doors, with away fans unable to buy a ticket for the clash.
Chelsea claim they made the request with “extreme reluctance” saying they did so for “matters of sporting integrity.” The statement read: “Chelsea FC recognises that such an outcome would have a huge impact on Middlesbrough and its supporters, as well as our own fans who have already bought the limited number of tickets that were sold before the licence was imposed, but we believe this is the fairest way of proceeding in the current circumstances.”
Middlesbrough hit back, with chairman Steve Gibson not taking kindly to the request from the Blues. He said via The Athletic: "Chelsea and sporting integrity do not belong in the same sentence.
READ MORE: Every word Thomas Tuchel said on Champions League draw, Real Madrid, Man United links and more
"Where is the intellect of Bruce Buck, the chairman of Chelsea, who has been an apologist for his owner, where the trophies won over 19 years have come from the corrupt money provided by Abramovich?"
That has all since been resolved, with the request rescinded and the game set to go ahead in front of a packed out home section, without away fans present. This is something that Boro boss Wilder believes will help his side.
He said ahead of the clash: "The energy we’ll get off that and a full house, it will take care of itself.
"I’m sure the occasion, the emotion of playing in the quarter-final of the FA Cup against European champions and World champions, the environment, the atmosphere, it will give our players a lot of energy. So that doesn’t bother or worry me. We can just go and give it a real good go."
Thomas Tuchel also faced the media and discussed the atmosphere, saying: "This is what we expect; an emotional stadium, emotional crowd. We love the competition, I love the FA Cup, so we expect a tough away match against a strong team. And not more than that. But this is what we expect, and it will be a challenge for us."
Tuchel will be hoping that it is third time lucky for his side in this competition, with the Blues losing out in the past two finals of the FA Cup. For now though, they have to get over the challenge posed by Middlesbrough without backing in the stadium.
