MIDDLESBROUGH host runaway Championship leaders Wolves this evening, with Tony Pulis admitting they will have to improve their wretched record against the teams in the top half of the table if they are to have any chance of winning promotion.

While Boro have claimed 15 victories against the teams currently sitting in the bottom 12 positions in the Championship, they have only been able to celebrate three wins over clubs in the top 12.

Those successes have come against Preston, Sheffield United and Ipswich, so they have failed to beat any of the clubs currently filling the five positions above them in the table. Given they are still to play Sheffield United, Bristol City and Derby after today’s game with Wolves, they will have little chance of finishing in the top six unless their record improves.

Pulis accepts his side has underperformed dramatically against the leading teams in the division, but will hold off a full-scale review until the end of the campaign. However, he admits he will have to forget about promotion unless his players start beating the big guns in the final eight games.

“The record is there, and it’s not a good one,” said the Boro boss. “It’s certainly not something that we would want, or that any team would want. But that’s the way it’s been, and it’s been that way all season. Let’s put it right in this game.

“We’re going to have to beat some of the teams that are up there because they’re the teams we’re going to be playing in the final eight games. We’ve got Wolves coming up next, and then we also have to play against Derby, Bristol City and Sheffield United. Our results against those teams are going to be vital, and we have to get the right results if we want to succeed.

“We want to change the record we’ve got at the minute, very much so. We’ll have to get through the season and see how it looks at the end of the season, but it’s something we know we need to change.”

That might be easier said than done today though, with Wolves having swept all before them for the majority of the campaign.

Tonight’s opponents arrive at the Riverside with a six-point lead over second-placed Cardiff City, knowing four more wins will guarantee them a place in the Premier League.

They have suffered just six defeats all season, but have been forced to fend off sustained criticism about the financial model that has enabled them to pull clear of the chasing pack.

A number of Wolves’ rivals have suggested they have gained an unfair benefit from the relationship between their owners, Fosun, and super-agent Jorge Mendes, a tie-up that has enabled them to recruit the likes of Diogo Jota, who is on loan from Atletico Madrid, and Ruben Neves, who moved to Molineux last summer in a £15.8m transfer from Porto.

Boro were hardly slow to splash the cash last summer either of course – the Teessiders spent more than £50m improving their squad in the wake of relegation – and Pulis insists he has no problems with the way Wolves have gone about their business.

“There’s been a lot of stuff about how they’ve done deals and how they’ve signed players, but I don’t see anything wrong with that,” he said. “They’ve recruited top players, and as long as they haven’t broken any rules – and it doesn’t look as though they have – then I say, ‘Give them the credit they deserve’.

“They’ve invested a lot, and they’ve had a fantastic season so far, so it will be a tough game for us. They’ve got individual players who can take you out of the game and do stuff that’s special.

“They can be going through a bad patch in the game, and then someone can pick the ball up and pick a pass, or score a goal, that maybe is above this level. Irrespective of what team is playing against them, you’ve got to understand and respect that they’ve got players in their team who can do that.”

Boro have their own special talents of course, and Pulis is delighted that Adama Traore returned from international duty with Spain Under-21s without having suffered any problems.

Dael Fry, Mo Besic and Britt Assombalonga also returned from their international outings with a clean bill of health, so with Rudy Gestede the only long-term absentee, there is a good chance Pulis will stick with the starting line-up that kicked off the 1-1 draw at Brentford.

That would mean Daniel Ayala remaining in the starting XI, and while he was unable to complete the full 90 minutes at Griffin Park, the Spaniard still displayed remarkable levels of commitment to make himself available for Boro’s last outing prior to the international break.

A muscular problem had confined Ayala to a wheelchair four days before the Brentford game, and his willingness to play through the pain barrier is indicative of the spirit and unity Pulis has cultivated since replacing Garry Monk at the end of last year.

“I know he didn’t play all the games under Garry, but I’ve found him to be absolutely fantastic, a real soldier,” said the Boro boss. “He’s a good lad, and he wants to learn. He spends extra time out there – he was out on the training pitch doing extra work on Wednesday – and he’s been a top-class pro.

“It was a great boost for the players (when he played at Brentford) because he’s been very good this year, and it certainly doesn’t do you any harm to have players in the group that are like that. It was great for the rest of the group to see him get out of his bed and drive all the way down to London to play in the game.”

Middlesbrough (probable, 4-1-4-1): Randolph; Shotton, Ayala, Gibson, Friend; Leadbitter; Traore, Howson, Besic, Downing; Bamford.