MIDDLESBROUGH head into their final game of the season on Saturday knowing a win or draw will guarantee they achieve promotion.

The stakes could hardly be higher, with their opponents, Brighton, needing a victory of their own to force their way into a top-two spot and condemn the Teessiders to the play-offs for the second year in a row.

Boro have not lost since going down to Charlton in the middle of March, so what do they have to do in two days’ time to ensure they are celebrating a place in the Premier League come Saturday night?


HANDLE THE OCCASION

The last time Boro played in a game of a similar magnitude, they froze as they were brushed aside by Norwich City in last season’s play-off final.

The enormity of the Wembley showpiece seemed to unsettle Aitor Karanka’s side, with their fate effectively sealed in the opening 15 minutes as they conceded goals to Cameron Jerome and Nathan Redmond.

Twelve months on, and Karanka’s biggest task this week is to ensure his players are much more at ease with the position in which they find themselves.

Playing at home should help – if nothing else, the squad should make it to the Riverside in plenty of time to begin their pre-match warm-up routine at its usual time in the schedule – and a sold-out home support will have a key role to play in establishing the tone for the afternoon.

Ben Gibson has spoken of drawing on the experiences he gained from Wembley, and the fact that seven members of Saturday’s likely starting line-up played against Norwich last season should help settle any pre-match nerves.

The Northern Echo:

Last year, the intensity of Norwich’s start seemed to accentuate Boro’s nervousness. This time around, the Teessiders have to seize the early initiative and put their opponents on the back foot.


GET THE TACTICS RIGHT

In some respects, it might have been easier had Boro been heading into this weekend’s game knowing they had to win to be promoted. In a game as big as this, a clarity of purpose can often be a good thing.

Instead, Karanka knows a draw is good enough to guarantee a top-two finish, but that shouldn’t influence the way he approaches the game. This is not a time to be negative, even though Boro’s defensive resolve is one of their key strengths.

Having named an unchanged side at Birmingham, the only anticipated alteration for Saturday will see George Friend replacing Ritchie de Laet at left-back provided he recovers from the hamstring injury that has kept him out of the last two games.

The Northern Echo:

The rest of Boro’s team is fairly well established now, as is the general pattern of play, with Adam Clayton and Grant Leadbitter sitting in front of the back four.

It is imperative that neither player is too defensive though, just as it is important that Friend (or de Laet) and Emilio Nsue continue to make the overlapping runs that have proved so effective throughout the season.

Taking the game to Brighton is the right way to go as an early Boro goal would force the visitors to open up completely, creating plenty of opportunities to capitalise on the counter-attack.


PLAY TO JORDAN RHODES’ STRENGTHS

Having struggled in his early appearances as a Boro player, Rhodes has hit form dramatically in the last few weeks, scoring four goals in his last four matches.

He wasn’t always at his sharpest in last week’s 2-2 draw at Birmingham, but he still left St Andrew’s with a goal and an assist to his name as well as hitting the post in the second half.

The Northern Echo:

Boro’s midfielders appear to have worked out that Rhodes is at his most effective when he is playing on the shoulder of the last defender, and both Gaston Ramirez and Stewart Downing have begun to slide more passes beyond the opposition defence. That is a tactic that should be encouraged.

Rhodes is also extremely effective in the air though, and it was telling that Boro’s second goal last Friday came from a teasing Albert Adomah cross that Rhodes nodded back across the face of goal for Ramirez to convert.

Boro’s wide players haven’t always been especially keen to cross this season, often preferring to cut back inside to either pass or shoot. With Rhodes in the side, though, the aerial route is often the most effective.


SHUT DOWN ANTHONY KNOCKAERT AND TOMER HEMED

Brighton like to play an open, expansive style, which has seen them score nine more Championship goals than Boro this season. Derby did a good job of shutting them down on Monday though, and there are lessons to be learned from the Rams’ performance.

Derby had clearly identified Knockaert as Brighton’s key creative threat, and it was an obvious policy to close down the French winger, who tends to play on the right-hand side, as quickly as possible in order to deny him any space in the final third.

The Northern Echo:

Knockaert’s January move from Standard Liege has been a key factor in Brighton’s strong finish to the campaign, and it will be a major boost to Boro if Friend is passed fit to line up against him.

They also have to be mindful of Hemed’s finishing prowess, with the Israeli striker having scored 17 goals in all competitions this season.

Signed from Spanish side Almeria for £1.5m last summer, Hemed offers a considerable physical threat that Boro will have to counter. Hopefully, Gibson and Daniel Ayala will be up to the task.


DON’T BE AFRAID TO TURN TO A PLAN B

Hopefully, Boro won’t have to worry about chasing the game. In an ideal scenario, they’ll score an early goal, pick Brighton off on the break, and have the outcome sealed long before the final half-hour.

If things don’t go to plan, though, Karanka has to be pro-active when it comes to rectifying the situation. The Spaniard doesn’t get too much wrong, but his reluctance to make substitutions until the final five minutes of a game can sometimes prove frustrating.

Boro will boast a strong bench at the weekend, with David Nugent and Cristhian Stuani likely to find themselves amongst the replacements.

The Northern Echo:

In the last couple of matches, Karanka has turned to Stuani first, but he has used the Uruguayan as a winger in order to stick with his preferred formation and the change hasn’t really been effective.

Throwing on Nugent as a second striker is a bolder move as it has the potential to change the course of a game much more profoundly. It’s unlikely to work if Nugent only gets two or three minutes on the field though.