Middlesbrough boss Gordon Strachan will settle for victory at lowly Peterborough on Saturday no matter how it comes.

The Scot is still waiting for his first win as Boro manager after three games at the helm, and he heads for London Road with only a point and a single goal to show for his efforts to date.

That run has seen the Teessiders slip to 11th place in the table, 11 points adrift of leaders and derby rivals Newcastle and nine shy of the last automatic promotion spot.

With a tough run of fixtures ahead of them in the weeks immediately before the Christmas period, they can ill afford to allow that gap to grow.

Strachan is aware Saturday's fixture is a big opportunity to start the ball rolling.

He said: "If you can get on a run - it might start with a lucky one, it might start with a great one, you never know - but we are all looking in this division.

"It's a hard, hard division. There's nothing tricky about it, there's nothing cosmic about the football. It's pretty straightforward, the football here, and it's good.

"But it's the ones who have the goalscorers who will be promoted, that's for sure."

Defeats by Plymouth and Crystal Palace, followed by last weekend's 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest at the Riverside Stadium, have denied Strachan a positive start to his reign, but he is not too disheartened.

He said: "I have been in positions like this before and it's not nice, but you have to deal with it.

"You always know that if you keep working hard, the world will become a better place.

"The game is simple: the more times you put the ball in the back of the net, the world is a better place, that's for sure."

The table-topping Magpies, who lead the standings by two points after 17 matches, host Swansea as they bid to stay on top of the pack, but may have to do without Ryan Taylor (calf), Danny Simpson (thigh) and striker Andy Carroll (illness).

Second-placed West Brom visit Hillsborough to play Sheffield Wednesday, who are likely to give debuts to new loan signings Warren Feeney and Tom Soares.

Baggies winger Chris Brunt returns to his former stomping ground and has already pledged not to celebrate should be add to his five goals this season.

Third-placed Leicester have the chance to put pressure on the top two with a visit to struggling Scunthorpe.

Saturday's fixture list is completed by QPR against Coventry, Plymouth v Barnsley, Doncaster visit Nottingham Forest, Derby at home to Reading, Crystal Palace versus Watford and Bristol City's home clash with Sheffield United.