Coventry no ordinary league game for Boro - Carrick
Middlesbrough have taken 27 points from 21 Championship games in 2025
- Published
Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick is not expecting an "ordinary league game" as his side chases a play-off spot on the final day of the Championship season.
Boro must win away to sixth-placed Coventry City, who sit in the final play-off berth, to have any chance of continuing their season beyond Saturday.
Even if they are victorious at the CBS Arena, they will have to rely on Blackburn Rovers and Millwall failing to win at Sheffield United and Burnley respectively to make it.
So it is a case of everything on the line and what has gone before going out of the window.
"This is not going to be like any other league game we've played this season," he told BBC Radio Tees.
"That's why who we're playing against, where it is, who's in form, who's not in form - it's all on the day. That is the challenge of getting it right at the right time."
Michael Carrick replaces Frank Lampard during an England game in 2007
Boro's goalless draw with Norwich City last Saturday meant reaching the play-offs slipped out of their own hands as they dropped from seventh to ninth.
They have won only one of their last five games but Carrick insists that now is not the time for regrets as they aim for three points against Coventry, managed by former West Ham and England team-mate Frank Lampard.
"Now is not a time for looking back," he said. "All our energy and focus is on what's in front of us. There is too much at stake.
"Frustration is not a feeling we'll take into this game. It's one of hope and belief. We're in a one-off game where anything can happen.
"There's a real buzz around the lads. They're excited about the game and the opportunity ahead."
To boost Boro's squad, both defender Rav van den Berg and midfielder Riley McGree are available for the trip to Coventry.
Dutchman van den Berg missed the Norwich game, while Australia international McGree has only played once since early January due to injury.