Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy says his side can forget about automatic promotion if they lose at Boro tomorrow.
The Tractor Boys leapfrogged Boro to go second when the sides met earlier this season but have stumbled through a sticky patch since and face a fight to get back among the promotion pack.
McCarthy’s side have slipped out of the play-off places but are still just five points off top spot.
And although McCarthy insists he’s still focused on hijacking the top two spots before the end of the season, he admits that dream will be over if his side leave the Riverside empty-handed.
Ahead of crucial games against Boro, Watford and Bournemouth, McCarthy said: “We can affect things or we could be right out of it. That’s the picture we’ve got in front of us at the moment.
“Our focus is to make sure we’re still in it.
“We do that by making sure we don’t get beaten, we get something out of the games so that we’re still in there at the end.
“Look, if we lost on Saturday and there are two teams eight points in front of us then we’re not going to be top two.
“We’re not going to win three more games than the teams at the top. I doubt that very much. That would take a huge effort and is unlikely.
“It’s important that we stay in that pack and get back in the top six.
“We’ll keep thinking about the top two until it’s possible.
“If we don’t get anything at Middlesbrough it’s going to make it very tough for us.”
As the promotion race hots up, all the sides jostling for the top two have suffered wobbles since Christmas.
Ipswich have only won three out of their last 10 but McCarthy insists the fact his side are still just five points off top spot shows that the gruelling nature of the Championship fixture schedule is taking its toll on all of the teams at the top.
“That’s the same for everybody,” he said when asked why wins have been harder to come by in 2015.
“We’re five points off the top, so you could be having this conversation at every club in the Championship.
“Nobody has run away with it.
“Derby, Middlesbrough...we all have our good runs and our bad spells.
“Why is it harder? Is it because we’re all playing each other and start sussing each other out? Does it just get tougher physically? I’ve no idea, I haven’t got an answer for you.
“It’s got tougher for everyone and the next 10 games are going to be even tougher.”
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