Derby 1 Middlesbrough 2

For the fifth season in succession, Derby are collapsing with the finishing line in sight. With two wins from their last 13 matches, Gary Rowett’s side are like a runner in yesterday’s London Marathon, desperately hitting the wall in the crucial final stages as their rivals come surging past them to claim the prize.

Second when they beat Middlesbrough in November, second when they travelled to Sheffield Wednesday as recently as February, Derby now look likely to miss out on a place in the top six. As the sun-drenched Boro fans in a sold-out away end joyfully serenaded at the weekend, ‘Derby County – it’s happening again’.

Middlesbrough, on the other hand, are peaking when it matters most. For much of the campaign, the Teessiders have flirted with the fringe of the play-off pack without ever really convincing that they deserve to be an integral part of it. November’s defeat to Derby took them out of the top six, and they remained outside the play-off places until March. Now, though, with just two more games to play, they have the air of genuine promotion contenders.

This month’s 2-1 home win over Bristol City was significant in that it finally silenced the accusations that Boro are ‘flat-track bullies’, incapable of beating their rivals in the top half of the table. That was important, but Saturday’s win at Pride Park, in the face of a feverish atmosphere and with the stakes sky high, was an even more powerful statement of intent.

To all intents and purposes, this was a play-off rehearsal. So the fact that Middlesbrough’s players responded with their best performance of the season augurs well for the high-pressure matches that will hopefully remain.

“Middlesbrough are now in a good momentum,” admitted Derby boss Gary Rowett. “It’s funny this season, they are in great momentum at the right time of the season, and we are in poor momentum at the wrong time. Unfortunately, as a manager, it is very difficult to pick which one you are going to get.”

That is true, although it overlooks the critical role a manager can play in imbuing his own winning philosophy into the group of players at his disposal. When Tony Pulis was appointed as Middlesbrough manager in December, the consensus was that it was a wholly pragmatic appointment. On the evidence of the last few weeks, perhaps pragmatism is the key to promotion.

Pulis’ first priority was to address the defensive deficiencies that had undermined so much of Garry Monk’s work in the first four months of the season, and the fruits of his labour were apparent at the weekend as Boro successfully held Derby at arm’s length, despite their opponents’ frantic attempts at attacking. Daniel Ayala has been completely reborn in recent weeks, and the Spaniard was a rock-solid presence once again, winning headers and tackles to neuter former Boro striker David Nugent at one end of the field while also making himself a nuisance whenever his side hurled the ball into the opposition’s box. If you had to crystallise all of what Pulis likes in a footballer into one player, you would be left with something bearing an extremely close resemblance to Ayala.

Pulis’ teams have always been associated with rugged defending, but the key to Boro’s success at the weekend was the way in which they attacked with pace and purpose, carving out a succession of chances as they dominated midfield.

Unsurprisingly, Adama Traore was the focus of much of their best work, bamboozling defenders as he rolled around them and repeatedly taking up to three Derby players out of the game in the space of a couple of seconds. No other Championship player can do what Traore does – Ryan Sessegnon included – and when he plays as he did at the weekend, it is hard to come up with many Premier League players that could match his ability to spin and hit top speed from a standing start.

“I have to be honest,” admitted Rowett. “At times, Traore gave me a real tactical conundrum because he’s almost impossible to stop when he sets off. He goes on runs, and you end up with two players on him and he still finds a way to get through.”

Traore set up both of Boro’s goals, and his efforts were aided by the willingness of both Mo Besic and Jonny Howson to break into the box. Pulis has tweaked his midfield tactics during his time on Teesside, turning what used to be a 4-3-3 formation into much more of a 4-1-4-1.

With Adam Clayton or Grant Leadbitter sitting deep, Besic and Howson have been encouraged to play further up the field, and their presence on the shoulder of either Britt Assombalonga or Patrick Bamford has greatly increased Boro’s attacking threat.

Besic had his best game in a Boro shirt at Derby, repeatedly driving towards the penalty area and opening the scoring with a crisp low finish after Traore picked him out on the edge of the box. It was the Bosnian’s first goal for four years, and his first goal in English football full stop, and it confirmed his growing comfort with his new role.

“In my last club, I played in more of a defensive position, but here I am playing more offensively now,” said Besic, whose January loan from Everton has already proved an extremely astute piece of business. “Adam Clayton is there for the defensive part, and that means I can push forward a bit more.

“When I was younger, I played in this kind of role, but I didn’t really do it at my last club, but I think I am getting there. I had eight shots in the last two games, and it is a long time since I did that. Hopefully now, I will score more goals.”

He almost claimed a second goal at the weekend, flashing a second-half strike over the top, and Howson also came within inches of doubling Boro’s lead as he crashed a long-range drive against the crossbar.

The visitors added a second with 20 minutes left, with Traore surging down the right before squaring for Assombalonga to lash home from the edge of the six-yard box.

Derby claimed a consolation in stoppage time, with Nugent rolling home from the penalty spot after Ayala tangled with Curtis Davies, but the hosts were second best throughout.

“We are in a good position, but we have not achieved anything yet,” said Besic.

“We still have to win one more game to make the play-offs, and that is the most important thing.

“Then, once we get there, we have to keep the winning mentality going because there is no point being in the play-offs if you don’t win them. It doesn’t make sense to get there and then lose.”