DOES CARRICK NEED A NUMBER OF MIRACLES TO GET INTO PLAY-OFFS?

MIRACLES do happen.

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It's just a huge pity that Middlesbrough are praying for three or four miracles to take place on Saturday afternoon.

Last week we had every reason to believe that we would be approaching the showdown against Coventry City knowing that victory would guarantee a play-off place.

The fact that Boro weren't able to produce against Norwich City is an indictment of their frustrating inconsistencies, which have left a season that promised so much now hanging from a thread.

Results haven’t been good enough and neither have performances.

Yet, here we are, knowing that if Boro win at Coventry and Millwall and Blackburn fail to win their own difficult away trips, then Boro could yet sneak into the top six at the final hurdle.

There's still a chance, albeit a small one. That's why Boro must stand up and deliver and hope for a miraculous finale to the Championship campaign.

So what chance have Boro got of fulfilling their side of the business and beating Coventry?

For starters, they need to turn back the pages of the record books, having failed to beat the Sky Blues in their previous seven encounters.

In addition, Boro have never beaten Coventry at the Coventry Building Society Stadium, formerly known as the Ricoh Arena.

Mark Robins always seemed to hold an Indian Sign over Boro when he was the Coventry boss. He invariably had a game plan to stop Boro from playing, which worked every time.

Robins has gone now so that little sticking point is out of the way.

As I said last week, Boro need to adopt a cup final mentality if they are to win this vital showdown.

They should remember that, in their only cup tie away from home this season, they trounced Leeds United by 3-0 at Elland Road.

In the Championship, they've recorded big, big away wins at places like West Brom and Blackburn, in addition to those stunning goal fest victories at Queens Park Rangers and Oxford United.