AITOR KARANKA claims Middlesbrough are in the middle of a spell that will determine the fate of their promotion push - and thinks Saturday's victory over Huddersfield Town could prove crucial in the final shake up.

Lee Tomlin's second-half double secured a 2-0 win over the Terriers, but Boro had to withstand a sustained late flurry from their opponents to take all three points, with goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos making three crucial saves.

The victory keeps Middlesbrough just four points adrift of league leaders Bournemouth, and enabled them to close within a point of third-paced Derby County, who suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest.

With Cardiff City travelling to the Riverside on Tuesday, the games continue to come thick and fast, and Karanka expects the next few weeks to play a crucial role in the outcome of the promotion battle.

The Middlesbrough head coach said: "This is a very important moment in the league because this month and February are the months when the positions are going to become more fixed.

"If we had lost three points, we would have been seven points behind the leaders and we always have to be thinking about the highest position.

"Now we are four points behind the leaders and that is good for us. We can't forget that seventh position is close."

Having watched his side fail to score in their two previous matches against Blackburn and Reading despite creating a number of chances, Karanka was frustrated to see his players spurn more opportunities yesterday.

Patrick Bamford and Kike were especially wasteful, and that enabled Huddersfield to go close to claiming a point as Nakhi Wells hit the post in the closing stages.

Karanka said: "We had chances to win the game in the first half and it's difficult to understand just how much we had to suffer to win the game. We have been working on the training ground on finishing and set-pieces.

"We couldn't score goals again and I was a little bit concerned because every minute you are not scoring goals the pressure increases on you. But I felt that the moment we scored it would become easier.

"Against Blackburn and Reading we had a lot of chances but didn't take them. We had many chances again, but finally scored two."

Karanka reserved special praise for Tomlin, who drilled home a 61st-minute opener before rolling the ball into an empty net in stoppage time to make things safe.

He said: "Tommo is the kind of player that when he has the ball, you can expect something to happen. His movements with and without the ball were brilliant. He was fighting for the team and he knows that is the way he has to work in every single game."