ADLENE GUEDIOURA is hoping Middlesbrough can take advantage of the Selhurst Park stress levels when they meet his former club, Crystal Palace, in a huge relegation encounter on Saturday.

Boro will move six points clear of Palace if they win at the weekend, a gap that could have potentially-decisive repercussions in the battle to avoid the drop to the Championship.

While the Teessiders have lost just one of their last five matches in all competitions, Palace are still reeling from a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Sunderland in their last home game.

Guedioura spent two years as a Palace player prior to joining Watford, and while he admits the Selhurst Park faithful are capable of creating one of the best atmospheres in the country when things are going their way, he expects the prevailing mood on Saturday to be much more apprehensive.

If Boro gain the upper hand, things could quickly become poisonous, and with Sam Allardyce’s side having claimed just one Premier League home win since the middle of September, Guedioura is hoping the mounting restlessness could work in his new employers’ favour.

“We have to try to take advantage of any nervousness in the crowd,” said the midfielder, who has made two substitute appearances since joining Boro in a £4m deadline-day move.

“When I played at Palace, the fans were always very supportive of the team. I am not saying they are not behind their team now, but they have not been winning very many games so it is only natural they are starting to get a bit frustrated, especially with how their last home game went.

“If we can use that to our advantage, it would be good. If we can score an early goal, I am sure that will help because maybe that would make the fans turn against their team. We have to be focused on our game, but anything that can help us get a positive result, we have to make the most of.”

Having come through a testing run of fixtures, Boro are about to embark on a run of games against teams in and around them in the table that will go a long way towards determining their fate.

As well as facing Palace, Boro will also meet Swansea and Hull in their next five matches, and some positive results against their rivals would create some much-needed breathing space as the end of the season draws near.

Boro lost to Palace at the start of September, with Wilfried Zaha’s second-half strike proving decisive, but while the Eagles have regressed since then, their weekend opponents have successfully remained outside the bottom three. The challenge is to ensure that remains the case beyond the weekend.

“It is a six-point game,” said Guedioura. “When you are playing against the teams close to you in the table then you really need to win because you can take a big advantage from doing that.

“A game like this can spark a good run if it goes in your favour, so it will be important that we go there with a positive mindset. We have shown what we are capable of in the last few weeks.

“When we played against Tottenham and Everton, and even in the cup game against Oxford, we showed we could do good things. I think we will go there with a lot of confidence, and try to get what would be an important win.”

Guedioura has experience of coming up against Middlesbrough this season, as he was an unused substitute when Watford won 1-0 at the Riverside in October.

Boro were somewhat unfortunate not to claim a point that day, and the Algerian international claims the rest of the division are respectful of Boro’s organisational and defensive strengths.

“When you are a player at a different club coming up against Middlesbrough, you know you are playing against a team that will be difficult to beat,” he said. “When you play against them, you know you will only have two or three chances, and you have to get them on goal because you know you’re not going to have many more.

“There is also quality here that can really make a difference, and when I was at Watford, we used to speak about Middlesbrough with a lot of respect when we played against them.”

Guedioura moved to Watford after failing to establish himself at Palace, where he managed just four league starts under Tony Pulis, Neil Warnock and Alan Pardew.

“It will be an important afternoon for me, although I do not think I have anything to prove to them,” he said. “I am only thinking about winning three points, but if I could score a goal, that would be great.

“Would I celebrate? I don’t know, because sometimes when you score a goal, you don’t really know what you are doing for the next four or five seconds. You don’t know where you are.

“I respect the club. I don’t say it was the best move of my career to be honest, but I respect the people and I still have some friends there. The fans were always some of the best in the league, and were really good to me. Let’s see what happens.”