MIDDLESBROUGH’S players have flown to Spain for a warm-weather training camp that will act as a somewhat unorthodox preparation for Friday’s play-off opener at Brentford.

Aitor Karanka and his squad flew to Marbella this morning and will base themselves at the Marbella Football Centre for a four-day break.

They will return to England on Thursday, and are expected to fly directly into London to put the finishing touches to their preparations for Friday night’s semi-final first leg at Griffin Park.

The decision to decamp to Spain ahead of the biggest game of the season was Karanka’s, with the head coach understood to be keen to draw a line under the disappointment of missing out on automatic promotion and refocus minds ahead of the two-legged play-off semi-final.

The move was only decided over the weekend, and it is thought that Saturday’s somewhat lacklustre display against Brighton helped convince Karanka that it would be best to make a radical break with the usual pre-match routine.

Boro used the Marbella Football Centre for a week of their pre-season programme last July, and Karanka was impressed with the way in which his players took to the facilities.

They are expected to train twice a day over the next two days as Karanka attempts to engineer a repeat of his side’s double success over Brentford in the regular league programme.

Boro thrashed the Bees 4-0 at the Riverside last September, with a Grant Leadbitter penalty securing a 1-0 win in the return fixture in London in late January.

Brentford boss Mark Warburton regards the first of those fixtures as one of his side’s poorest displays of the season, and admits it would be nice to right some wrongs in four days time.

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“I thought we played well in the game here, but they got one penalty and that was it,” said Warburton. “But the away game at Middlesbrough was probably one of our worst halves of football this season in terms of intensity, tempo and quality on the ball.

“So we’ve got some unfinished business there and we’re looking forward to it, but we will never underestimate what is a really talented opponent.

“They’ve reached the play-offs. The Premier League is three games away and the most lucrative game in world football is two games away – that’s how they’ll be thinking.”

Brentford forced their way into the play-offs on the final day of the season as they cruised to a 3-0 home win over Wigan while Derby suffered a surprise home defeat by the same margin against Reading.

The Bees suffered a major wobble after it was revealed that Warburton would not be remaining in his position beyond the end of the season, but they won their final two matches when the pressure was at its most intense and their boss is hoping the tight confines of Griffin Park will play into their hands on Friday night.

“Middlesbrough are a formidable opponent, well-organised, with many talented players and managed by Aitor Karanka,” he said. “This is a tough place to come though, especially for a night game under the lights in front of a passionate Bees crowd. Hopefully, we can deliver a good performance.”