WHAT a difference a week makes. When Middlesbrough were heading away from the bet365 Stadium after losing to Stoke City, all eyes were looking down to the bottom three. With the gap to safety having been reduced to six points, a relegation battle looked a very real possibility.

Fast forward seven days, and not only has talk of the drop been well and truly silenced, but sights are once again being trained upwards rather than in the opposite direction. If the win over Norwich breathed a modicum of life into Boro’s play-off ambitions, then Saturday’s follow-up success at QPR represented an even more powerful shot in the arm. Win again at Birmingham on Tuesday, and rather than being on the critical list, the Teessiders’ promotion push will have been fully revived.

“We know what this league brings, and if you can put a cluster of results together, it can make a big, big difference,” said Michael Carrick, after second-half goals from Emmanuel Latte Lath and Marcus Forss secured victory at Loftus Road. “We felt it going the other way recently, but hopefully we are coming into a bit of form after two good results. There’s definitely more in terms of performance, but results-wise, it’s been a really good week.”

So, what has changed to spark the transformation? The system is the most obvious thing, with the move to a five-man backline having coincided with Boro’s first back-to-back league wins since mid-December.

Carrick has argued that, when it comes to being in possession of the ball, his side’s formation makes little or no difference. Defensively, though, there is no doubt that Boro looked much more solid playing with five at the back at the weekend, culminating in their first clean sheet since before Christmas.

A QPR side that have been in excellent form since the turn of the year were restricted to a couple of first-half half-chances that Seny Dieng saved and a succession of increasingly desperate balls into the box after the break. Boro dealt with them with a minimum of fuss, aided by the presence of Jonny Howson, who remains as influential as ever at the base of midfield.

All five members of Boro’s backline contributed to the win, winning tackles, filling gaps and throwing their bodies in the line of shots, but even within such an impressive collective display, the efforts of teenage centre-half Rav van den Berg stood out.

Signed from Eredivisie side PEC Zwolle in the summer, van den Berg was pressed into action as an emergency full-back in the early stages of his Boro career, but it was always envisaged that he would eventually establish himself at centre-half. He has certainly done that in the last few weeks, to the point where he is already being linked with a possible move to the Premier League in the summer.

The Northern Echo: Rav van den Berg wins a header against QPRRav van den Berg wins a header against QPR (Image: Tom Banks)

Clearly, Boro would not want to lose him, having worked so hard to bring him to Teesside amid competition from the likes of AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund, but if Saturday’s performance is anything to go by, the 19-year-old will not be in the Championship for long. Strong, athletic and supremely composed in possession, van den Berg already has it all. Now he has established himself in Carrick’s starting side, it is safe to assume he will not be leaving it again in the remainder of the season.

“Rav’s doing great,” said the Boro boss. “I think for being so young, his consistency level is so, so good. When you come into a game like this, you’re tested. You’re tested defending one-on-one against good forwards who are a handful, but he’s coped with it so well.

“There was a big moment where he got back and prevented their player (Paul Smyth) from going round Seny and scoring, and that was a huge moment in the game. But I just think his presence was a big factor for us. He’s commanding and he’s comfortable in the right way. He’s been terrific all season, really.

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“Even when he played left-back and right-back, he’d never played there before, but he just took it in his stride. That’s something you can’t really coach. It comes down to the characteristics of the individual, and he certainly can deal with different situations.”

With van den Berg leading the way as the central of the three centre-halves, Boro successfully contained QPR in the first half. They didn’t really create anything themselves though, so as Carrick told his players at half-time, the challenge in the second half was to add some composure and incision to their play.

That arrived just after the hour mark, when Matt Clarke successfully kept the ball alive after a cross was allowed to pass through the QPR 18-yard box. The defender delivered the ball back into the area from the left, and Latte Lath directed a clinical volleyed finish into the bottom right-hand corner. Boro were crying out for a natural striker when Latte Lath and Josh Coburn were both injured. Having battled back to full fitness, the former has now scored two goals in two games.

The same is true of Forss, who settled things in the 76th minute at the weekend. Howson led a counter-attacking move that swept from one penalty area to the other before sweeping the ball to Luke Ayling on the right. The wing-back crossed to the back post, and Forss looped an excellent header beyond Asmir Begovic.

“When you have a bit of a tough spell, and we’ve had a couple this season, you see people’s characters and real personalities,” said Carrick. “The boys have been incredible with that in term of sticking together and finding their way through.”