TONY PULIS says his Middlesbrough side are an ‘ideal shape’ as they head into their play-off semi-final with Aston Villa, and is hoping a ‘rocking Riverside Stadium’ will help them close in on a place at Wembley.

Boro host Aston Villa in the first leg of their play-off semi-final this tea-time, with the return fixture due to take place at Villa Park in three days’ time, and Pulis’ players will take to the field at the Riverside in a buoyant mood.

Having seen off promotion rivals Bristol City, Derby County and Millwall to book their place in the play-offs, Boro claimed a last-gasp equaliser at Ipswich Town last weekend to set up a two-legged tie with Villa.

Steve Bruce’s side have the advantage of playing the second leg on home soil, but Pulis is hoping his players will go a long way towards settling things tonight and has highlighted their recent form as a major reason for optimism.

“We’re rolling in to this competition in good form, and that’s brilliant news for everybody,” said the Boro boss. “The players have been brilliant this week. They had a tough game at Ipswich, but the way they’ve played and trained this week, they’ve been very focused and on the front foot.

“We’re very pleased to be in the play-offs, but the ultimate aim is to get in the Premier League. We have to now focus on what’s ahead. We’ve done one part, but we have to focus on the next part and then hopefully the part after that.”

While around 2,000 tickets were still available for general sale yesterday evening, tonight’s game is expected to have sold out by the time it kicks off.

Three seasons ago, a raucous Riverside atmosphere helped Boro claim a 3-0 semi-final win over Brentford, with Aitor Karanka’s side already having won the first leg at Griffin Park. Twelve months later, and the mood was every bit as euphoric as a final-day draw with Brighton secured promotion to the Premier League.

There have been some decent atmospheres in the second half of the current campaign, but Pulis is urging his club’s supporters to raise things another notch this evening.

“We need the Riverside to be rocking,” he said. “We need every seat to be sold, and make it a tremendous atmosphere. It’s over two games and we have to understand that, but I’m looking forward to this first game.”

While Pulis is generally extremely reluctant to reveal too much information about his pre-match plans, he changed tack entirely yesterday by effectively naming tonight’s starting line-up.

He intends to stick with the side that started at Portman Road last weekend, meaning Britt Assombalonga will once again be preferred to Patrick Bamford and Adam Clayton will get the nod in midfield ahead of skipper Grant Leadbitter.

Managers tend to shy away from revealing their hand to their opposite number, so Pulis’ willingness to lay his cards on the table can be interpreted as an expression of confidence and belief.

“My team is the team I picked for the game at Ipswich,” he said. “I’m not hiding anything. That’s my team - that’s the way we’ll go out and play.”