‘We might pull Carrick refuses up on play-off

DEPENDING on whether you are a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kind of person will probably determine how you feel about Middlesbrough’s prospects this season as their aim of gatecrashing the Championship play-off race reaches the final furlong.

With eight games remaining, Boro sit seven points adrift of the top six.

Their lack of consistency throughout the season, on top of their difficult run-in, makes for a pessimistic outlook.

On the more upbeat note, however, Boro are unbeaten in four, have kept three consecutive clean sheets after a slight tactical tweak and have produced their better performances this season against sides above them.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, after an international break offered head coach Michael Carrick an opportunity to reflect and take stock before the final flux, the Boro boss was as straight-batted as ever in his stance.

“Who knows right now,” he said. “It might be too much to ask, we might pull it off. But at this stage, no one knows and we can only control what we can control and try and win the games we have while playing well and seeing what happens from there.”

It probably sums up the craziness of the league that while it would still be a tough ask, the mood around Boro’s chances would probably be very different had they managed to beat Blackburn Rovers last time out and make it four straight wins.

It would only be a two-point difference, but more significant would be the feeling attached to four positive results as opposed to a frustrating goalless draw that highlighted many of the problems that ultimately explain why Boro are doing the chasing right now.

That said, that there is still an outside chance that Boro could make the play-offs again is a testament to their will this season. It also encapsulates just how quickly things can change in this division given that before the Norwich City win that kickstarted Boro’s unbeaten run, Carrick’s side looked in very real danger of being dragged into a relegation battle. “We’ve just got to try and win games really and then see where that takes us,” Carrick said of Boro’s play-off prospects.

“From week to week, game to game, it can look so different. In a four-game period there we picked up many points and it looks very different now.

“There is still a bit of work to do to achieve our hope of getting into the play-offs, but all we can do is try and win games. We’ve got some tough games but we’ve got to try and put a run together again and build on what we’ve got and then see.

“We try to win every single game so it’s not going to change how we approach the game. We go into games trying to win, we plan to win, we don’t think about anything else.

“We understand the situation and where we are in the league but in terms of trying to get the result, preparation is the same.”

In terms of approach, the Boro boss, so rare to give much away when speaking to the media, made an unprovoked comment after the Blackburn game when assessing the final eight games.

In the heat of the moment, Carrick had said his side almost had to “let loose” in their final eight games. The question was, did he mean tactically or was it more mentally?

Offering a clarification after a period of reflection, he said: “When I say that I don’t mean it to the extreme. I’m always on at the boys about expressing themselves, believing in them

Who knows right now ... We’ve just got to try and win games really and then see where that takes us.