Middlesbrough are aiming to return to the Premier League for the first time in seven years.
Boro were last relegated down to the Championship at the end of the 2016/17 season.
Middlesbrough have since tried and failed on numerous occasions to secure a return to the top flight with a plethora of different managers.
The likes of Neil Warnock, Tony Pulis and Chris Wilder all struggled at the Riverside Stadium during their brief tenures.
After the latter of that trio was sacked, Steve Gibson appointed Michael Carrick as manager in October 2022.
The former England international guided Boro to a fourth-place finish in 2022/23 before losing out to Coventry City in the play-off semi-finals.
The previous campaign did not go as well, with the Reds finishing outside the top six. But Middlesbrough were predicted to win promotion prior to 2024/25.
- READ MORE: Michael Carrick must end unwanted 56-year Middlesbrough record if they are to beat Preston North End
Kieran Scott predicts where Middlesbrough will finish 2024/25 Championship season
Middlesbrough have got their 2024/25 campaign off to a decent start.
Boro beat Swansea City on the opening day before losing to Derby County and drawing with Portsmouth.
Their last league outing saw them secure a 2-0 win over Cardiff City, moving them up into seventh place in the Championship table and only outside the play-offs via goal difference.
Now, speaking on the You Are My Boro podcast, Kieran Scott has backed his team to claim a top-six finish this term while also joking that Middlesbrough are due ‘a few decent referee performances’.
He said: “I think there’s a good balance there [in the squad], of all sorts from ages, to styles of play, to athleticism to, skill and technique there’s a real range for me of skill set within that squad now.
“So, I say if luck is on your slide and we can keep away from injuries, which we didn’t have that luck last season and we get a few decent referee performances, which would be overdue and nice.
“A bit of luck comes your way, I’d like to think that the squad will be up there and fighting in that top six, and let’s see what comes.”
- READ MORE: Kieran Scott reveals how Middlesbrough beat Premier League club to ‘great’ summer signing
Will Middlesbrough win promotion this season
On paper, the Reds should be firmly in the promotion picture come the end of April/beginning of May.
The Championship on the whole appears much easier than 2023/24 with the sides who dropped down from the Premier League this time around much weaker than the ones that won promotion.
Leeds United remain among the favourites to go up after they lost the play-off final to Southampton but Daniel Farke’s squad has been weakened by several big-name exits over the summer.
At present, it is Sunderland who sit top of the Championship table after an unbeaten start to the campaign.
But they too have lost a top star recently in Jack Clarke, while their squad depth is somewhat questionable.
Middlesbrough, meanwhile, managed to maintain the services of all their best assets including Emmanuel Latte Lath, Rav van den Berg and Hayden Hackney.
The transfer business conducted by Scott and Carrick over the summer also means that Boro now have one of the strongest squads in the Championship.