Middlesbrough’s recent form has dipped, with only one win in their last six games as they have failed to score goals. With three games remaining, Chris Wilder’s club is now eighth in the league, five points out of the playoffs.
Middlesbrough will need to score goals and hope their form holds up in the final games of the season if they are to return to the top six, but when asked if their play-off ambitions were still alive, Chris Wilder, the news reporter, said, “We’re still alive.” I don’t have a crystal ball, so I have no idea what’s in store for us. This division, though, is not a gimme or a foregone conclusion.
The two teams above us have two difficult games ahead of them, and the teams surrounding them have two difficult games ahead of them, but we must also play two difficult games. On Wednesday night [against Cardiff], we’ll be back at home, and we know it’ll be a big game for us; a season-defining game. But being in with a chance is good, and if we get a result, we close the gap, and it’s game on for the remaining two games of the season. We have a chance, and our schedule is comparable to everyone else’s.
They’re winnable, but if we don’t get it right, we’ll lose points, and there’s no room for mistakes now. Middlesbrough is set to win the Championship.
On Wednesday night, they will play Cardiff City before facing Stoke City at the weekend. They traveled to Preston on the final day of the season, which means they won’t face a club ranked higher than 12th. However, at this point in the season, these games might go either way, so Boro will need to be on top of their game. Middlesbrough still has a chance to end the season in the play-offs, and their matches suggest that they should be winnable on paper.
However, given Wilder’s team’s recent struggles to score goals, you have to wonder if they will be their own worst enemy. Boro has only scored one goal in five games this month, aside from a 4-0 triumph against now-relegated Peterborough United at the start of the month. As a result, it won’t just be a question of belief for Wilder’s club; it’ll also be a question of whether they can find the goal-scoring ability to propel them into the playoffs.
