HAVING secured their play-off place a couple of weeks back, all that was to be decided for Middlesbrough on the final day was who they'd play in the semi-finals - but Ryan Giles wasn't bothered, for he believes Boro are the team to be feared.

And having recovered from the back problem that ruled him out of the recent game at Rotherham, Giles - one of Boro's stand-out stars this season - is "absolutely buzzing" ahead of his first crack at the Championship play-offs.

Giles arrived in the summer on loan from Wolves hoping for a promotion push on Teesside but that looked extremely unlikely in the early stages of the campaign as Chris Wilder's side struggled at the bottom end of the table.

When Michael Carrick arrived in October, the immediate priority was getting away from trouble at the bottom rather than challenging at the top, and Giles says there remains a sense of perspective in the dressing room as to what has been achieved this season, which is why there's no disappointment at coming up short in the bid to make the top two, as once appeared a possibility.

“There’s no disappointment in the group about being in the play-offs," said the wing-back.

"From where we were towards the start of the season, there is no hiding from the fact you probably wouldn’t have expected us to be where we are now.

"If someone would have said to me back then that we would be in the play-offs, I would have snapped your hands off. It’s my first experience of being in the play-offs personally, so I’m absolutely buzzing for it.

"I can’t wait! It’s been a really successful season in my eyes, and a season I’ve really enjoyed, so I’m just buzzing for next week now. Let’s get it going!"

Giles' participation in the play-offs appeared to be in doubt when he missed last week's Rotherham defeat but his injury was nothing to worry about and he's made a full recovery.

He said: "I was gutted to miss last week, I had a slight problem with my back but I think it was more a precaution than anything else. The gaffer didn’t really want to risk it, which I think was probably the right idea with what’s coming ahead.

"I was gutted to miss the game because I’ve played virtually every game this season. I was supporting the lads from back home though and I’m back now."

Boro go into the play-offs on the back of a three-game winless run, but that spell - where there's been very little at stake - has done nothing to dent the belief in the dressing room.

“We knew it was done, but we were still playing for ourselves and playing for each other and there was momentum to think about as well," said Giles.

"Listen, I know there have been a few changes throughout the team in the last couple of weeks, but that still didn’t change what we were trying to do.

"We always want to go out there and win football matches, and it’s as simple as that really. The last couple of results didn’t go the way we wanted them to, but there were reasons for that.

"As a group, we believe in each other and we believe in the team, and we’d like to think that whoever comes up against us in the play-offs will be fearing us for sure. We’d like to think that’s how everyone will have been thinking ahead of the play-offs [want to avoid Boro].

"It wasn’t like that for us. We just focused on us and wanted to keep winning football matches and whoever it would be it would be. Especially coming here for the second leg, I wouldn’t want to do that if I was on the opposite side. So we’ve just got to focus on ourselves and I’m sure we can achieve something special this season."

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Having drawn with them on the final day, Boro are now preparing for two more games against Coventry. Giles had a couple of loan spells with the Sky Blues earlier in his career, so was pleased to see his former side make the top six - but now is obviously only focused on Boro.

He said: “I’m delighted for them because I think they’ve had a fantastic season. They’ve got some really good individuals and you can see they’re very well-drilled as a team and have good individuals. Credit to them.

"But we’ve just got to focus on ourselves because I think we’ve got some fantastic players in our team and players they will fear. So we’ve got to focus on ourselves, believe in what we do and I’m sure then the result will come our way."