Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka is adamant that his side have to beat Brighton & Hove Albion to send them into the playoffs with momentum.
The North-East outfit's pursuit of automatic promotion was ended following their defeat to Fulham last week and Bournemouth's victory over Bolton Wanderers on Monday.
However, the Spaniard has admitted that his side have surpassed his expectations of them this season after being in the hunt for a top-two place right until the end of the campaign.
He told reporters: "In the days after the Fulham loss the mood wasn't so good, but we're better now. We have to believe that we're in a position that we wanted to be in at the start of the season. After the game we were disappointed, but we have to be positive.
"We know that we did badly and we have to improve, but we're upbeat because the players have had an amazing season. We deserve to play in the playoffs, and they know what they did badly and what they have to improve on.
"I don't think anybody expected to be in this position. At the beginning of the campaign people thought we would be fighting to get into the playoff mix, but we're third now and we have to defend our position."
Middlesbrough face Brighton at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.
Simon Sinclair
