AITOR KARANKA admits this is a “massive” period in Middlesbrough’s season even if he wants to ensure his players do not think about the bigger promotion picture every time they head out on to the pitch.

Boro start the weekend sitting a point clear at the top the Championship courtesy of Tuesday’s comfortable home win over struggling Millwall at the Riverside Stadium.

But the task of staying ahead of the rest has been made harder by the rest of Boro's fixtures against promotion contenders in March, starting with tomorrow’s trip to Nottingham Forest and followed by dates with Ipswich, Derby and Bournemouth.

After the visit of Wigan on April 3, Boro also have a trip to third-placed Watford on the horizon so there is no room for error if Karanka wants his team to enter the final month of the campaign in pole position.

The Spanish boss said: “Of course, the next four games are massive for us but if you see the fixtures everybody has difficult fixtures, everybody has to play teams at the top of the table, so we have to think about ourselves and the Nottingham Forest game; after that we have one week to prepare for the other three games.

“I know we have three important games but I can't think what is going to happen against Bournemouth when we have to play against Nottingham, Ipswich and Derby before that. I am going to think about Nottingham and then after that Ipswich. I don't need to remind anybody that we have very important games the following week.”

While Karanka feels confident he can focus on one game at a time, it might be harder for the players to think that way when they know about the significance of the run of games at such a crucial stage.

The Middlesbrough head coach said: “It's normal that the players think about those games. But we can win three games in a row and arrive at Bournemouth top of the table, with five or six points ahead of third position, or we can lose three games and we can be two points below the play-off position.

“So they know my philosophy and mentality and we don't win anything thinking about the games against Ipswich, Derby and Bournemouth now. It’s all about the one in front of us. It has to be that way.

“The win over Millwall on Tuesday was huge because if we had lost that game we would have been under pressure, but we won. We have three more points and one less game to go so it is good for everybody.”

Boro will not be able to call on Spanish defender Daniel Ayala at the City Ground but he is due to return to the first team picture after recovering from an ankle problem.

Ayala has not played since hobbling off at Blackpool on February 10 but has made sufficient progress in his rehabilitation to be considered for training.

Karanka thinks he could have the former Norwich and Liverpool man involved next week.

“I’m not sure if he will train on Friday but hopefully the following week he will be ready to train,” said Karanka, who also suggested right-back Damia Abella could be back within six weeks.

Ayala was a key part of Boro's success story this season before picking up the problem and his boss is well aware of the improvements the centre-back has made in the last 12 months.

He said: “Dani is a special player. You have to manage him differently to others sometimes, but when you know his personality and character it is easy. When the balls are in the air he is one of the best in the league.”