ADAM CLAYTON admits Middlesbrough are about to embark on a run of matches that has the potential to ‘make or break their season’.

The Teessiders take a break from the pressures of the Premier League this weekend when they entertain Oxford United in the fifth round of the FA Cup, but once that game is out of the way, their league schedule could hardly be more significant.

Four of the club’s next six league matches are set to pit them against teams in the bottom nine positions in the table, and Boro are due to face three of the four teams currently below them before the end of the first week in April.

That could change slightly if next month’s scheduled home game with Sunderland was to move because of Boro’s participation in the FA Cup quarter-finals, but whatever happens in the knock-out competition, the club’s Premier League fate should be a lot clearer in six weeks’ time.

With the toughest run-in on paper of all the clubs involved in the relegation battle, Boro will have to add to their current tally of four league wins within the next five or six games if they want to have any chance of retaining their top-flight status.

They have not beaten Premier League opposition since the middle of December, but having watched his side outperform Everton for long periods of last weekend’s goalless draw, Clayton remains confident about their chances when they take on the teams in and around them in the table.

“It will ebb and flow between now and the end of the season,” said Clayton, who is one of the players who could be rested as Aitor Karanka shuffles his pack this weekend. “I personally am used to looking at results from last season, and they were crazy results, so we just have to concentrate on what we are doing.

“We have must-win games in there now – let’s go and win those. Let’s have a go, and I think that is what we did (against Everton).”

While Boro’s obdurate streak was once again in evidence at the weekend, they remain the lowest scorers in the Premier League, having scored three fewer goals than their closest rivals, Hull City.

The Teessiders have only scored two league goals since the turn of the year, and one of those was a penalty, but Clayton highlights Adama Traore as one player who is more than capable of going on a goalscoring run in the final three months of the season.

For all that he has dazzled with some of his dribbling in recent weeks, Traore is still to score his first goal since making a £6m move from Aston Villa last summer, but Clayton expects the 21-year-old to be prolific once he gets into his stride.

“Adama is getting fitter every game,” he said. “He is getting fitter, stronger. He is doing the other side of the game that the gaffer likes.

“Hopefully, we can add a few more goals and assists to his game. We are one or two goals away from winning a few games.

“I think once Adama does score, he could go on a little rampage and get a few goals. He is getting closer and closer. His delivery is getting better by the game. If we can get his confidence going with an assist or goal, then he will be really firing.”