TONY PULIS was delighted to see his Middlesbrough side move to within one win of a guaranteed place in the play-offs as they beat Derby County, and is looking for a similar level of performance when they take on another of their promotion rivals, Millwall, next weekend.

If Boro beat Millwall at the Riverside next Saturday night, they will be assured of a place in the play-offs no matter what happens on the final weekend of the season, when they travel to Ipswich Town.

They were too good for Derby this afternoon, with Mo Besic and Britt Assombalonga finding the target before former Boro striker David Nugent claimed a consolation for the home side from the penalty spot.

Pulis was pleased with his players’ efforts at Pride Park, but has already urged them to switch their thoughts to next weekend, when they will take on a Millwall side whose confidence was dented by Friday’s home defeat to Fulham.

Pulis said: “I can’t really give the players any more praise than they got in the dressing room afterwards. I told them they played really well, but we’ve got a tough game against Millwall next week now.

“We have to make sure we dust ourselves down, take the good out of this game, and get ready for another big push. Millwall have done fantastically, and their manager deserves a lot of credit for what he’s done there. It’s tough game after tough game at the minute, but that’s this league.”

Boro produced some of their best football of the season as they fashioned a two-goal lead, but they also passed up a number of chances to put the game completely out of sight.

Jonny Howson struck the crossbar, Besic fired over the top and Adama Traore dragged a low shot past the post as the Derby goal led a somewhat charmed life, and Nugent’s late spot-kick set up an unnecessarily nervy finale.

Pulis said: “It was a big win, and a good performance. I thought we played really well. The only disappointing thing was that 20 minutes in the second half when we really took control of the game and created quite a few opportunities and chances.

“You have to take those opportunities because then it kills the game. The linesman has made a last-minute decision for the penalty, and if you’re only one goal ahead at that stage, it becomes 1-1.

“You can easily drop two points from a decision like that if you don’t take your chances. We have to be a little bit more clinical, especially in the final third, but I thought we played really well.”