BRENTFORD defender Harlee Dean has accused Middlesbrough of being far too predictable in attack, and claimed the Teessiders can only score through “set-pieces and counter attacks”.

The Bees travel to the Riverside on Friday for the decisive second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final, and Mark Warburton’s side have it all to do as they trail 2-1 following the opening game at Griffin Park.

Boro triumphed through goals from Jelle Vossen and Fernando Amorebieta six days ago, and threatened on a number of other occasions as Brentford goalkeeper David Button kept his side in the game with some crucial saves.

Brentford lost to Boro in both of their matches during the regular Championship season, with their trip to Teesside last September proving an especially chastening affair as they slumped to a 4-0 defeat.

Nevertheless, Dean has stirred things up ahead of tomorrow night’s decider by belittling Boro’s goalscoring threat, and accusing them of being extremely limited in terms of their attacking approach.

“Set-pieces and counter attacks are all they have got,” said the centre-half. “They have got a solid defensive unit, but we have to break them down and make sure we do not concede.

“I don’t think the late goal (in the first leg) changes things that much. If we had drawn, we still would have had to have won, and that is still the situation. Going up there on a bigger and wider pitch will suit us, and will give us a better chance of winning.”

While this is Middlesbrough’s first experience of the play-offs since they lost to Notts County in 1991, Brentford are regulars at this stage of the season, albeit without any success.

This is the London club’s eighth appearance in the end-of-season shootouts, and perhaps significantly, their previous seven outings have all ended in defeat.

Their most recent disappointment came in 2013, but with the prize of a place in the Premier League on offer this time around, Dean insists previous failures will count for nothing when he and his team-mates take to the field tomorrow.

“We’ve been in the play-off finals before, but this is a different ball game and a different level of football,” he said. “We have to make sure we step up to the occasion and get the right result.

“If we win, we are in the final and 90 minutes away from the Premier League. It doesn’t get much bigger than that.”

With Boro defending a one-goal lead, the opening stages of tomorrow’s game could well prove crucial. If the Teessiders score first, they will be extremely difficult to overhaul, and while Aitor Karanka’s side will have to strike the right balance between defence and attack, their skipper, Grant Leadbitter, is keen for them to seize the initiative early on.

“It will be tough, and we need to come out of the blocks just as quickly as we did (at Griffin Park), said Leadbitter. “It was good to win at Brentford, but we know this will be just as tough.

“They’re a really good side, a good possession team, and we know it will be hard, but we have the advantage. We knew it was going to be a 180-minute game and we’ll go into this one full of confidence, but we know we have to be wary as Brentford are a good team.”