Boro need to embrace big run-in test

Middlesbrough boss Tony Pulis is urging his squad to enjoy the exciting end to the season.

Boro slipped out of the Championship play-off places following their midweek defeat at Sheffield United.

Starting with today’s visit of Bristol City, Boro face three other play-off contenders in their final four matches, desperate to get back into the top six.

Asked about the challenging climax to the campaign, Pulis told mfc.co.uk: “We should embrace it.

“I think I said it after the (Sheffield United) game – we don’t want players going out there looking as though they’ve got the weight of the world on their shoulders.

“We’re in a fantastic position to grasp something that’s really special and you want the players to step up to the mark and really understand that.

“Win, lose or draw, you want them to play the way they played second half at Sheffield United.

“The first half was very disappointing for everybody and we looked as though we were playing with eight men and, in the second half, we looked as though we were playing with 12 men.”

There’s a big game at the bottom, which directly affects Sunderland, with third-bottom Barnsley hosting fourthbottom Bolton, who are two points better off but have played a game more.

Striker Oli McBurnie, who opted to join Barnsley ahead of Sunderland on loan in January, wants the crowd to roar the Oakwell side over the line, just as they did in the recent 3-2 win over Sheffield United.

The Scotland international, 21, said: “I think, when we’ve got the crowd behind us like they were last Saturday – like they have been all season, especially at home – it gives us a massive boost; it’s like a 12th man out there and we need that.

“Every little bit that they can give us we’ll lap up, and it gives us that bit of an advantage. So I know they’ll be out there against Bolton in numbers, loud as ever, and giving us that little boost that we need.

“You try not to focus on the crowd. But, for example, the two Yorkshire derbies that I’ve played in, you can’t help but notice how loud they are.

“It does give you that little boost when there’s a tackle or a run and it get’s everyone up – it sends goosebumps down your spine and that’s what we need.”