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.”
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