Middlesbrough will be banking on a sparkling FA Cup victory against Blackburn Rovers to keep spirits high and provide a spin off boost of confidence to their promotion push.

In doing so Boro need to dig a little bit deeper on the day, because the club have found to both their satisfaction and frustration that third round matches can be tricky affairs. In fact, since the club was saved from liquidation in 1986, Boro’s track record at this stage of the competition contains only a few more wins than defeats.

Boro have a habit of turning it on in the tougher ties as they did five years ago when Jonathan Woodgate’s side were paired at home to Jose Mourinho’s Spurs - who had finished in the top four in the previous Premier League campaign. Woodgate’s men went very close to winning it, after taking the lead when Ashley Fletcher ran on to George Saville’s through ball and slotted home.

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For a long time it looked as though Boro would win, but Lucas Moura headed home from a Serge Aurier cross to give Spurs a replay. Afterwards Mourinho admitted that Spurs were 'in trouble' for some time before leaving the Riverside a very relieved man.

Boro got off to a dreadful start in the replay, going two goals down after 15 minutes when Giovani lo Celso and Erik Lamela netted. Instead of capitulating completely, Boro seemed to gain vital inner strength and went on to be the more enterprising side in the second half. They had to wait until the 83rd minute before Saville reduced the arrears with a low drive from 20 yards. Yet Boro could still have forced extra time only for Rudy Gestede to head over the bar from a gilt-edged chance.

This was the first time for 13 years that Boro had been involved in a third round replay. In 2007 Steve McClaren’s Premier League side edged out a battling Hull City from the Championship in a seven-goal thriller at the Riverside. Following a 1-1 draw at Hull, Boro were pushed all the way before winning 4-3 in a match which was memorable for a crazy 20 minutes in the second half which brought six of the goals. Mark Viduka netted twice, with Seb Hines and Yakubu also netting for Gareth Southgate’s men.

Just 12 months earlier, Boro were involved in an epic third round tussle with non-league Nuneaton Borough which also went to a replay. McClaren’s side was studded with top international stars such as Southgate, Gaizka Mendieta,Viduka and Yakubu. Yet they struggled on a bitterly cold afternoon on a difficult Nuneaton pitch in a game which was continually blasted by snow showers.

In the end, they were happy to bring the Conference North side back to the Riverside following a 1-1 draw. Mendieta put Boro ahead after 15 minutes with a stunning free kick but Nuneaton went on to create the better chances as the Boro defence was put under spells of pressure. In the event, the home side had to wait until the very last minute to earn their trip to Teesside when Southgate handled inside the box and Ged Murphy rattled home the equaliser from the penalty spot.

It was much more comfortable in the replay, goals from Chris Riggott, Stuart Parnaby and Viduka and two from Yakubu giving Boro a five-goal lead. Once again, Nuneaton finished strongly and Murphy scored two consolation goals – leading to many Boro fans insisting that we should sign the bustling non-league striker.

The romance of the FA Cup was often at its greatest when Boro tackled non-league opposition. In 2013, Ryman League side Hastings United visited the Riverside and put on a battling display in front of more than 1,000 of their travelling fans before going down 4-1.

The visiting fans were in raptures in the opening minutes when their goalkeeper Liam O’Brien saved a penalty from Ishmael Miller. However, Boro kept pressing and took a three-goal lead thanks to two goals from Merouane Zemmama and another from Andy Halliday. Bradley Goldberg gave Hastings hope with a remarkable goal from long range but Miller’s late goal put Tony Mowbray ’s men through to the fourth round.

Derby games are few and far between in the third round though a packed Riverside enjoyed a 2-0 win over Sunderland in 2018. Goals from Gestede and Martin Braithwaite handed Boro a 2-0 interval lead and Tony Pulis ’s men held on comfortably in the second half. Sunderland’s former Boro keeper Jason Steele later came into criticism for conceding both goals but it’s great to see him still plying his trade with Brighton.

When Boro reached the FA Cup Final in 1997, their third round opponents were Chester City from the Third Division. It was an almost embarrassing one-sided tie with Chester struggling desperately to cope with the power and pace of Fabrizio Ravanelli up front. Ravanelli scored twice, while Craig Hignett, Neil Cox, Mikkel Beck and Phil Stamp grabbed the others.

While the weather was bitterly cold at Nuneaton in 2006, it was positively Arctic six years earlier when Boro took on Second Division Wrexham in the third round at the Racecourse Ground. I have suffered some cold conditions at away grounds, along with many travelling Boro fans, but this was probably the worst. I wanted to game to end before it started.

In the event, the tie went the distance with Wrexham, who were legendary at the time for their giant-killing exploits in the FA Cup, winning 2-1. There didn’t appear to be too much danger for Bryan Robson’s Boro at half-time when they led 1-0 thanks to a goal from Brian Deane. The tide turned when Robin Gibson levelled early in the second half, slotting home a through ball from Darren Ferguson. Then Ferguson, watched from the stands by his father and Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, grabbed all the Sunday paper headlines with the winning goal.

Even the magic of Juninho could not get Boro back into the game against a Wrexham side which contained six players aged 21 or under. It wasn’t the first time that Boro had suffered at the hands of a Welsh club in the third round.

In 1994 and 1995, Boro were paired in the third round with first of all Cardiff City, and then on the second occasion Swansea. Both times Boro were away from home and both times they brought the Welshmen back to Teesside after earning draws from the first encounters. Then they proceeded to lose both replays at home, both by the score of 2-1.

The longest third round tie in which Boro have taken part in recent times was against Everton in 1990, when three games were needed to settle the issue. Boro, who were managed by Bruce Rioch, were in the Second Division at the time while Everton were one of the top sides in the country.

A solid encounter at Ayresome Park in the first meeting produced a goalless draw, while Boro dug deep at Goodison Park to hold the Toffees to a 1-1 draw with Gary Parkinson netting the Boro goal. The clubs tossed a coin to decide the venue for the third meeting, and Goodison came up tops. Boro went back there seven days later and again worked their socks off, before going down 1-0.

Unfortunately the latest influx of Boro fans will not get to learn what replays are. Anyway, even extra-time is something we don’t want to see this weekend. Let’s hope for another super Boro performance which sends the fans home happy and helps give their Championship form another shot in the arm.