Middlesbrough defender David Wheater is hoping to go one better when he comes up against a former team-mate at Everton on Sunday.

The 20-year-old has been a revelation at the heart of Boro's rearguard this seson in the absence of the injured Emanuel Pogatetz, providing England international Jonathan Woodgate with excellent support.

However, having already seen Mark Viduka score against his old club for Newcastle on his return to the Riverside Stadium, he is determined to prevent the Australian's one-time strike-partner from registering against the Teessiders this weekend.

Ayegbeni Yakubu will hope to be in the Everton side which welcomes Boro to Goodison Park as he attempts to win over his doubters following an £11.25million switch to Merseyside in August.

Having seen at close hand just how dangerous the Nigerian can be, Wheater knows he could be in for a tough afternoon, but the task of keeping the 24-year-old at bay is one he is relishing.

He said: "It's just another game, really, but it's coming up against Yakubu, so that will be interesting.

"I tell you, it won't be as hard as playing against Viduka. It will be a good test, but it is nothing we cannot handle."

Yakubu scored 35 goals in his two seasons at the Riverside but stalled after the turn of the year in both campaigns, and there were mumblings of discontent as his contribution dropped alarmingly.

He was dropped for last weekend's 2-0 victory at Aston Villa after a less than explosive start to his career on Merseyside, but returned for the Carling Cup clash with Sheffield Wednesday and scored in a 3-0 win.

Wheater said: "He's the same as Viduka - they are unplayable on their day.

"He is such a big man, he can just hold you off, and he has got good pace and a good finish when he wants to - but hopefully it is not his day.

"He is a good player. He scored a lot of goals for us and he was a good player when he wanted to be.

"In training you could see he was an excellent player."

Wheater and Woodgate are likely to resume their partnership after the latter shook off a hamstring problem, and manager Gareth Southgate will hope for a first clean sheet in four attempts.

Southgate took something of a gamble when he threw Wheater in at the deep end at the start of the campaign, but he has been richly rewarded by a man who has played every minute of the season to date.

He said: "He has been a real plus for us. There was no way of knowing how he would respond to being thrown in.

"There is a composure about him and he enjoys defending. He enjoys making blocks, he enjoys making tackles and he enjoys winning headers."

For all that, there was little Wheater and his defensive colleagues could do on Wednesday night to deny Tottenham a 2-0 Carling Cup victory, although Southgate was furious with Gareth Bale's opening goal with Aaron Lennon clearly in an offside position and, in his opinion, active.

Now the Boro boss has called for the uncertainty to be taken out of the offside rule.

Southgate said: "There is an art to defending and the rule as it stands negates some of that art.

"Yes, we want to see goals, we want to see attacking play, but we would see that anyway without the confusion that surrounds this rule.

"I think it actually encourages lazy play rather than good forward play, which is making your runs, staying onside, getting back onside and then going and attacking at the other end."