RYAN SHOTTON has turned up the heat on Middlesbrough’s weekend opponents by suggesting that Derby County’s previous history for ‘bottling it’ in the final stages of the season could count against them again on Saturday.

Derby have developed a reputation for failing to see things through, with the last two seasons having witnessed them charging into the promotion places in the first half of the campaign, only to suffer a collapse in the closing stages.

Former Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren presided over one such meltdown, and Gary Rowett is in danger of seeing history repeat itself after his side dropped out of the play-off places for the first time since November when they lost to relegation-threatened Burton Albion last weekend.

Shotton spent an unhappy two-year spell as a Derby player, and feels his former club’s past record for slipping up with the finishing line in sight could be a factor when they host Boro at Pride Park.

“I think the experience of everybody is going to show,” said Shotton. “Teams have been up there, Derby have been up there a couple of years now, and not shown that last push that they can do it. So it’s time for us to step in and make sure they don’t do it again.”

Boro’s players proved their mettle as they saw off another of their promotion rivals, Bristol City, last weekend, but they are going to have to display similar resolve as the play-off head-to-heads continue to come thick and fast.

After travelling to Derby, Boro host Millwall at the Riverside a week on Saturday, and the two matches will go a long way towards determining the final make-up of the top six.

The fixture list has pitted the Championship’s promotion contenders against each other at the most crucial stage of the campaign, so if Boro can hold on to a play-off spot, Shotton claims they will be battle-hardened once the extra matches roll around.

“The fact that we’ve got to play these teams makes us experienced and coming into good form, and if we make it into the play-offs, it means we’ve played teams around us and we know we can beat them,” he said. “Hopefully, we can keep that going.

“But we can’t be looking at Millwall or Ipswich, or even beyond that. It’s Derby in front of us and we’ve got to go after them with everything we’ve got because they’re going to be up there if we’re not.”

Shotton joined Derby as a loan player before signing a permanent contract in January 2015, but quickly found himself farmed out to Birmingham City after his face did not fit.

“Derby is in the past,” he said, in an interview with Middlesbrough's official website. “I didn’t have the greatest of times there. I won’t be feeling sorry for them if we take the three points, let’s put it that way.”