ISAIAH Jones is happy to admit that Middlesbrough would much prefer to be sat in the Championship's top six right now rather than trying to bridge a gap in the final weeks of the season, but the winger has a message for Boro's rivals they're chasing down, saying: "Sometimes it's best to be the hunter".

Boro's play-off hopes looked to have disappeared last month but an impressive run in which they've picked up 14 points from a possible 18, Michael Carrick's side are now just six points shy of the play-off places.

Boro are still outsiders but only leaders Ipswich Town are in better form right now, and Jones - who scored in the 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday on Easter Monday - says there's belief in the Riverside dressing room.

Carrick's men host Swansea on Saturday before a decisive spell, in which they travel to rivals Hull City and then host automatic promotion contenders Ipswich Town and Leeds.

After that, they travel to Cardiff and are at home to Watford in the final fortnight of the season. It's credit to Carrick and Boro that they're still in with a shout at this stage of what has been a season packed with setbacks.

They had a slow start, failing to win until the eighth time of asking, and have then had to deal with a string of major injury setbacks, with as many as 11 first team players missing for the draw at Southampton on Good Friday.

But Carrick has said repeatedly that those issues have brought his squad together, and Jones says the players have their eyes firmly set on the top six.

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“We have to believe we can do it," said the winger.

"The belief is still there. We know the season hasn’t been how we wanted it to be. We’ve had a lot of injuries this season and that hasn’t been ideal for the gaffer. Not many have been short-term injuries either, we’ve suffered a lot of long-term injuries.

"As a group though, physically we feel good right now. Obviously, we’d rather be in the position of the teams above us because they have the points on the board and we have to try and catch them. But at the same time, sometimes it’s best to be the hunter. "It’s been up and down but now we need to put those points on the board. We’ll see where we are after each game and keep going from there.

"Hopefully we can end the season on a high and hopefully we can get into the play-offs. But if not, we will recharge our batteries and go again next season."

It's been another season of twists and turns in the Championship, with the race for automatic promotion set to go to the wire. The battle for the final play-off spot is equally as competitive, with five teams separated by just six points.

Jones says Boro are only focusing on themselves.

“The most important thing is gaining three points and hopefully taking that momentum into the next game," he says,

"The Championship is unpredictable and anyone can beat anyone. We’ve just got to take it game by game and you just never know where it can lead us.

"Hopefully, if we can win all of our games, we’ll give ourselves a real chance, but we’ve just got to take it game by game.

"There have been ups and downs since the beginning of the season. I feel like we’re building into a good rhythm again and hopefully we can keep that in the final six games."