MARVIN Johnson wants Middlesbrough to name their strongest possible side in the Emirates FA Cup tomorrow – but not all his Oxford United teammates are in agreement.

Premier League clubs have been criticised for fielding weakened teams in the competition and Aitor Karanka made seven changes for their 1-0 fourth round win over Accrington Stanley.

That game was followed by a midweek top-flight fixture, which may have influenced the Spaniard’s thinking.

This time the Teessiders have a free week to follow and, with all sides left in the competition just two wins from a Wembley semi-final, Johnson hopes the U’s will be facing their best line-up.

He said: “Ideally you’d want them to play a full-strength side so we could test ourselves and actually see where we’re at as a team.

“You always want to play against better players.

“We want to come up against a really good side with their best players out.”

However, with top-flight survival their overwhelming priority this season and Boro just two points above the bottom three, Karanka could see a home game against a Sky Bet League One side as another good chance to shuffle his pack.

United took advantage of a much-changed Newcastle United line-up in the fourth round, winning 3-0 at the Kassam Stadium.

And skipper John Lundstram is in the opposite camp to Johnson, preferring as many changes as possible to improve the odds of an upset.

He said: “Hopefully they make a few changes, but I also want my good mate Adam Forshaw to play.

“I’d like to play against him after playing with him at Everton for years, but at the same time he’s a top player, so if he doesn’t play I won’t be too disappointed.

“Everyone’s got their opinions, but I’d rather have a better chance of going through.

“We’ll just be looking to produce our best and if they under-perform we might be able to nick something.”

Whatever side Middlesbrough field, Johnson knows the qualities which shone against Newcastle will be needed again.

He said: “We went into that game with nothing to lose, we weren’t expected to win. We worked hard and that got us the result.

“We can only go into the Middlesbrough game with the same mentality and attitude and then let the game take care of itself.”