DANIEL AYALA insists that sealing an automatic return to the Premier League has always been Middlesbrough’s aim this season, even during a recent pre-Christmas slump.

Tony Pulis, the Boro manager, is still working on adding new faces to Boro’s squad before the window closes to boost the push for promotion.

There hasn’t been as much progress as he would have liked in the first half of January, with Huddersfield’s Rajiv van la Parra the only new arrival on loan.

As a bare minimum Pulis would ideally like at least one new attacker and a full-back to consider for the Championship run-in – and he was dealt blows last week with a couple of his targets.

But Middlesbrough have emerged from a run of just one in seven which had seen them drop to sixth in the table by going unbeaten in four to climb to within four points of second spot.

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And with Leeds United and Norwich City, the two occupants of the automatic places not so long ago, slipping up, there is a growing confidence again within the Middlesbrough ranks that they can continue the climb up the table.

Ayala said: “You have to keep winning games. We had a bad patch but we’ve got a lot of leaders in the team so we knew we were going to come out of it. It is good to keep winning games.

“The target is the top two, of course. I think you just have to keep winning games and let’s see where that takes you. Of course, you want to win promotion straight away (automatic) but if you have to go to the play-off, then so be it.”

If Middlesbrough are to finish in the top two then they will need to address their poor home form. While they have performed well on their travels, they have won just two of their last nine league games at the Riverside.

That record has contributed to Middlesbrough recording more points away from home than on Teesside and that needs to change if they want to seriously challenge to win the Championship.

Ayala said: “I think every team will go through a bad patch and hopefully ours has gone and we can now keep pushing.”

The Spanish defender was hugely impressive last Saturday when Middlesbrough made it four unbeaten, winning three, at Birmingham City.  This weekend Millwall will be travelling to the North-East and they have struggled to reproduce last season’s form, when they were pipped to a play-off spot by Middlesbrough.

The Lions are closer to the relegation zone and a recent four-match winning run, prior to losing to Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn on Saturday, lifted them clear of danger for now.

But Milwall will face Middlesbrough looking to cope without Tom Elliott, so 35-year-old Steve Morison is on stand-by to make his first league start since December.

Elliott dislocated his shoulder in the first minute against Blackburn and had an X-ray early this week. Lee Gregory has also recovered from a calf problem.

“We thought we’d come out of the woods with these kinds of things after four wins in a row,” Neil Harris, the Millwall boss, said. “But then Tom’s injured after seven seconds and they get a freak goal in the 86th minute.

 “It’s just another battle for us and we’ve got to keep going. Steve’s been great as an impact sub and at times has been excellent for us.

“But with his lack of minutes, 90 minutes is a big ask for him at the moment at his age. Tom was a big loss against two centre-halves that I thought he was going to dominate. It was disappointing.”

Young Middlesbrough forward Stephen Walker, meanwhile, is attracting interest from the Premier League and the club hope to tie him down to a long-term contract.

Walker has two years left on his deal, having signed a five-year contract in 2016. He made his debut in the Carabao Cup victory over Notts County in August. He was also included on the bench for the Teessider’s Championship defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday on Boxing day.