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TONY Mowbray is happy that his team will be away on the opening day of the 2012/13 Championship season - even if means a reunion with Mido.

Barnsley, who will host Boro on Saturday, August 18, are expected to complete the signing of the much-travelled Egyptian striker over the next 24 hours or so.

The fixtures for the coming season have been published today and Boro’s first home game is a Tuesday night visit from Burnley on August 21, which suits Mowbray just fine.

“I’d have to say that I’d always prefer an away game to start with,” he told the Gazette.

“Teams are so well prepared and so full of adrenaline that form tends to go out of the window and you get a lot of strange results.

“Barnsley won’t be easy, of course, and it looks like Mido might sign for him.

“I know from his time here that he is a powerful, talented boy who knows where the back of the net is.”

Grant Leadbitter will face his former club Ipswich at the Riverside on September 15 while the first meeting with one of the clubs relegated from the Premier League is a trip to Blackburn on August 22.

Boro travel to their closest rivals, Leeds, on Saturday, December 22 and then have two home Yuletide fixtures to negotiate. Blackburn are in town on Boxing Day followed by Blackpool three days later on Saturday, December 29.

On New Year’s Day (Tuesday, January 1), Boro travel to Derby while the nearest thing to a home derby, the clash with Leeds, takes place on Saturday, January 26.

The last home game of the campaign is a clash with Charlton on Saturday, April 27 with the season schedule to finish at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, May 4.

Meanwhile Newcastle have a tough start to their bid to repeat last season’s spectacular Premiership campaign as they start at home to Spurs on August 18 then go away to Chelsea the following week.

Sunderland, who start with a tough trip to Arsenal, host Newcastle in the Tyne-Wear derby on October 20 with the return battle on April 13.

Elsewhere, Manchester City begin the defence of their Premier League title at home to newly promoted Southampton.