SOMETIMES, footballing success is all about timing. Unbeaten in the last six matches, Middlesbrough are currently on their best run of the season. With the start of a potential play-off campaign now less than two months away, they couldn’t have picked a better moment to start hitting peak form.

Time and time again, the Championship play-offs are won by the team that was able to generate the most momentum at the end of the league campaign.

This year, that is unlikely to be Fulham or Aston Villa, who look destined to finish in third or fourth position. With seven points to make up, it would be a surprise if either of those sides caught second-placed Cardiff City, so no matter how many wins they claim in the final eight games of the season, they will head into the play-offs with a tinge of disappointment at missing out on the automatic promotion spots.

Derby County are currently ahead of Boro on goal difference, but will be looking nervously at the clubs just outside the play-off places after failing to win any of their last seven games. Bristol City, currently sitting seventh, won at the weekend, but that was only their second success in the space of nine matches.

Preston, who could yet feature in the promotion shake-up, are on a decent run, but of all the sides in the top half of the Championship table, it is Middlesbrough who appear to be peaking at just the right time.

Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Brentford might not have been the best result in the world, but it kept Boro’s unbeaten run going and enabled them to remain in the top six ahead of a Good Friday meeting with league leaders Wolves. Fourteen goals in the last six matches, 14 points from the last available 18. The opposition wasn’t always great, but whatever way you look at it, that is promotion form.

“We know from this run we’ve put together what we can achieve,” said Ben Gibson, who has missed just one league game all season. “The important thing is that the run is still going, and it is. We’re unbeaten in quite a few games now, and we have to maintain that if we are going to achieve something this season.

“People have been talking about the league table and what other teams are doing, but we just concentrate on us, and let everyone else do their thing. We’ve always maintained that it’s about us – it always has been, and it always will be.

“It’s Wolves at home next, and it’s one that we’re looking forward to. It’ll be a good game and a good night at the Riverside. It’ll also be one that we’re expecting to take three points from.”

Tony Pulis’ appointment has clearly galvanised Middlesbrough’s squad, and while it might have taken the Welshman a month or so to get to grips with the players he inherited from Garry Monk, he has ironed out a number of the flaws that were holding the Teessiders back in the first half of the season.

The defence is more reliable, with the promotion of Ryan Shotton to the right-back slot having added some welcome ballast and height to the backline. Patrick Bamford’s goals have transformed Boro’s attacking fortunes – admittedly there is an element of luck to Bamford’s promotion given it only came about because of an injury to Rudy Gestede – while Adama Traore has looked a completely different player under Pulis’ watchful eye.

Yet again on Saturday, an opposition side did not really know how to handle Traore, with Brentford’s crude attempts to hack him down eventually resulting in the dismissal of Romaine Sawyers. Keeping the Spaniard fit will be absolutely crucial in the next two months, so Pulis’ demands for increased protection are hardly a surprise.

Traore is the player who has most obviously improved under Pulis, but there are others who have also taken a significant step forward. George Friend and Jonny Howson have also been in better shape under the current Boro boss, while Bamford is a completely different proposition than he was under Monk. As a result, the squad now looks stronger as a whole than at any other time since Boro dropped out of the Premier League.

“Adama has been massive for us,” said Gibson. “He’s doing great at the moment, but we don’t want to put too much pressure on his shoulders. He’s doing fantastic for us, but so are many players. Look at the goals that Patrick has scored - it’s not about one man.

“Adama has been absolutely brilliant, he’s an exciting prospect, and hopefully it’ll be a great career for him if he continues to work hard like he has been lately. But if we’re going to get out of this league, it’s not even just about 11, it’s about 16 to be honest with you, and that’s something we do know.

“It’s about subs coming on and nicking goals, or putting their bodies on the line to see a game out. That’s an effort that, as a club, we’re going to have to produce.”