Middlesbrough’s head coach Michael Carrick insists that everything is to play for the last five games despite the close loss of his team in Leeds United.
The home defeat was only a second in eight games – a race that brought Boro firmly in the image of the dams.
They remain sixth, but Coventry City’s victory at home at Portsmouth on Wednesday will see the Sky Blues reinstate the last barrage.
But the performance of Pushing Leeds So Close offers Carrick encouragement before running, which includes delicate games outside the Playof Dark Horses Millwall and Coventry on the last day.
“A large part of our game and the creation of opportunities were really very good,” he said.
“But it is this final action that is the difference. They found it and we have not completely found it.
“But everyone is really disappointed, we didn’t get anything out of the game after the way we played and especially after the start we had.
“We were the team that pushed and pushed and pushed, especially in the second half, but we could not really take the risks and it is football.
“We are disappointed because it is the result, but it shows where we are in a team. But that cannot derail us and that does not change the season in many ways because the season is alive.”
