Middlesbrough will be licking their lips at once daunting Blackburn, Leeds meetings - huge chance now awaits | OneFootball

Boro have two monumental clashes up next, which suddenly don't look as daunting as they once did.

Middlesbrough are finding form just at the right time, as they look to end their inconsistent and frustrating season with a play-off finish.

Michael Carrick's side made it four wins from their last six Championship games with a 2-1 victory over Oxford United at the Riverside Stadium last weekend.

Optimism has been hard to come by on Teesside in 2025, with Carrick's future reported to have been hanging in the balance back in February, during a spell that saw Boro lose five-straight games between 25 January-25 February.

However, with Middlesbrough now sitting level on points with sixth-placed West Brom heading into their 40th game of the campaign, skeptics are beginning to turn into believers once again, as the club prepare for two vital clashes to come.

Middlesbrough take on Blackburn and Leeds United next - recent developments mean Boro won't fear those fixtures

Only a matter of weeks ago, the sight of a Blackburn Rovers-Leeds United double-header with just a handful of games to go sent shivers down the spines of Middlesbrough supporters.

Rovers were a play-off team under John Eustace, and Daniel Farke's side looked like they were going to take some catching at the top of the table.

However, fast-forward to the present, and Eustace no longer occupies the Ewood Park dugout, and fear is beginning to set in among the Elland Road faithful that the age-old song 'Leeds are falling apart' will be serenaded to them once again by rival supporters.

Blackburn are first up for Middlesbrough on Friday night, and they will meet a Valerien Ismael side that are yet to record a win under their new boss, and are in the midst of a four-game losing run in which they've come up against nothing but relegation-threatened teams.

So high has the frustration built around Ewood Park that a collection of Rovers supporter groups have called for senior figures at the club to stay away from their final games of the season.

As for Leeds, they've won just once in their last five, which was a 2-0 win over Millwall on 12 March. Since then, they've drawn successive games by a score of 2-2, firstly away at QPR, before a 96th-minute equaliser from Zan Vipotnik saw them drop another crucial two points last weekend against Swansea.

Goalkeeper Illan Meslier is coming in for major criticism from Whites fans, after yet another collection of errors against the Swans cost his side dearly, and he can't be a shot-stopper who is playing with much confidence at this moment in time.

Boro could place themselves in play-off driving seat if they can take points from Blackburn, Leeds games

Therefore, Middlesbrough should see these two games as a huge opportunity to pounce on two wounded animals.

Carrick is slowly seeing his first-team options being replenished, with Rav van den Berg and Riley McGree returning from lengthy injury absences in the win over Oxford last Saturday.

Kelechi Iheanacho finally got his Boro goalscoring monkey off his back in that game, whilst Neto Borges moved one step closer to cult hero status at the Riverside, with his winning goal being his first for the club in what has been a testing debut season for him on Teesside since arriving in the summer.

As such, a feel-good factor is slowly returning to Middlesbrough, and should they take a collection of points from their clashes with Blackburn and Leeds, then they could find themselves in a superb position to secure a top six finish.

Following the game against Leeds on Tuesday, 8 April, Boro take on Millwall and Plymouth Argyle respectively, before three final games against Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich and Coventry City respectively.

Therefore, they'll be looking at those final five games feeling confident that they can take three points from both Millwall and Plymouth, whilst Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich could also be out of the play-off race by the time Boro meet them at the end of the month.

So, it really can't be overstated how important it is for Middlesbrough to come out the other side of their Blackburn-Leeds double-header having taken a handful of points, as if they do, then they may well control their own play-off destiny once again.