Middlesbrough’s recent good form could be rewarded in the shape of a big opportunity to pile the pressure on their Championship play-off rivals this weekend.
Michael Carrick‘s side entertain Blackburn Rovers at The Riverside on Saturday, knowing that rivals Hull City and Coventry City will be powerless to preventing Boro from creeping ever closer to them in the race for a play-off spot.
Coventry will be pre-occupied by the small matter of a Midlands derby F.A Cup tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers, whilst Hull City will have a fixture-less weekend.
Norwich City, who lost 3-1 in controversial circumstances to Middlesbrough recently also currently sit above the Teesside outfit, but face a tricky away trip to Stoke City. Even if they beat them, the Canaries still have some difficult games to navigate as we approach the business end of the season. Ipswich, Leicester and Preston all still await David Wagner’s men. But in truth, the opposition is largely irrelevant in this division. To add context, Middlesbrough have beaten Leicester City twice and given four points to Rotherham United.
Middlesbrough hitting form at the right time
Middlesbrough played a rescheduled fixture against Birmingham City on Tuesday evening, running out 1-0 victors in a tetchy, scrappy affair. Carrick won’t have minded one bit, at this stage in the season, it is about wins, and with six goals scored and just one conceded in the last three outings, his charges are hitting form just at the right time.
The win versus Birmingham brought them up to 53 points. That means they currently sit four behind Coventry who are in 8th and five points behind Norwich and Hull, who sit in 6th and 7th respectively. It means that a fourth straight win at home to strugglers Blackburn and a loss for Norwich could see Middlesbrough just two points adrift of a play-off place.
Speaking in his post-match interview, Carrick clearly understands the gravitas of the impending situation and wants to go into the international break on a high. He said:
“It’s another win for us, Saturday is important now. The next game, as I always keep saying all the time, the next game is always important. Before the break, we want to go into that and finish strong.”
Big turnaround in fortunes
Who would have thought just three games ago, after confidence-sapping defeats to Plymouth and Stoke and languishing six points from the relegation zone, we would be here talking about play-off hopes again? It shows the absolute incomparable nature of the Championship.
What it also shows is that Carrick is developing into a very useful coach. He has navigated some choppy waters with the loss of big players like Morgan Rogers and Chuba Akpom and has still found a way to improve, adapt, tweak his approach and get results.
The recent upturn in results has come hand-in-hand with the inclusion of some experienced old heads in the team. Players like Luke Ayling, Jonny Howson, Lewis O’Brien and Paddy McNair has given Middlesbrough a battle-hardened quality they probably didn’t possess before.
Carrick’s Middlesbrough teams have always had flair and attacking intent, but the set-up with three at the back has a more robust look about it without the ball. Middlesbrough’s Head Coach is always one to exercise caution, but even he will acknowledge that this is a big opportunity to do something special and finish the campaign strongly.