Middlesbrough would love to copy Sunderland example - Southampton FC, Millwall may hate it | OneFootball

Middlesbrough may have to settle for the play-offs after some poor form recently, but the past shows that poor form doesn't show in the play-offs

Two months ago, Middlesbrough were on top of the world and at the top of the Championship. Now, with four games remaining, that's a distant memory.

Heading into a crunch match against Coventry City on February 16, Kim Hellberg's side were atop the pile, and a win against the Sky Blues would have extended their own winning run to seven league games, while putting a five-point buffer between themselves and their opponents that night, and an eight-point one to Millwall in third.

Even with a 3-1 loss against a rejuvenated Coventry side, Boro were still five points ahead of Alex Neil's side, and even seven ahead of Ipswich Town in fourth, albeit having played a couple of games more. It was still in their hands. Now, it's anything but.

Including that game at the CBS Arena, Boro have won just two of their last 11 games. They're in danger of being six points behind Ipswich in second, if the Tractor Boys win their game in hand on Tuesday night against Portsmouth, and that could be stretched to nine when the two meet at Portman Road on Sunday.

It's growing increasingly likely that Kim Hellberg's side will have to settle for the play-offs, and they may be going into it on the worst run of form out of the four sides within them.

But, as recent history has shown, that may not spell disaster if it ends up being the case.

Sunderland ended last season in terrible form, but still prevailed in the play-offs

If you'd have told Sunderland fans at the end of the regular season last year that, despite losing each of their last five games and failing to score in five of their last six, they would end up winning promotion anyway, not many would have believed you.

Not only was their direct run of form heading into the play-offs poor, but it hadn't been good since their capitulation at Elland Road in mid-February, where a couple of late Pascal Struijk goals turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win for Daniel Farke's side.

Before that game, Sunderland were unbeaten in seven games and went into that game against Leeds, who occupied second place at the time, seven points behind them. A win there would have narrowed the gap to just four ahead of the final 13 games.

Instead, they left 10 behind, and with just their fifth defeat of the campaign. They were never able to fully recover, losing their unbeaten home record to relegation-threatened Hull City in the next game. Including those two games, they would win just four of their last 14.

With Boro currently on a run of two wins in 11, and also with struggles finding the back of the net, they could end up finishing the campaign in a similar vein of form off the back of losing a similarly massive six-pointer at the top of the table.

If they do, then they'll hope to replicate the bounce back exhibited by Sunderland in the play-offs, when they prevailed over two legs against the form side out of the four teams partaking in the post-season, Coventry, before coming from behind to win at Wembley against Sheffield United.

Middlesbrough's run-in doesn't exactly mirror Sunderland's, but there are enough similarities to make their play-off rivals worry

Granted, heading into that final five-game run of losses, the Black Cats were nine points off the top three and 13 ahead of then-fifth-placed Bristol City, so their position was all but mathematically locked in, so Regis Le Bris was able to rest some of his players and go through the motions ahead of an important play-off run.

This season, the race for the top two and the battle for the top six is a lot tighter. At this point last year, second and seventh were separated by 28 points. Right now, the gap is 11.

So, Boro can't exactly afford to take their foot off the gas in the final weeks of the campaign, as that could result in them possibly falling out of the top six altogether. But they also won't be looking at a top-two finish as completely unattainable just yet, especially with a meeting with Ipswich on the horizon.

Win that, and they could end up with the belief that they could end up catching them. Losing it, though, would all but confirm a play-off place, and it would extend this poor run to just two wins in 12.

But we've seen throughout Kim Hellberg's time at Middlesbrough that his side can be a force to be reckoned with. And even throughout this slump, Boro have often been the dominant side when it comes to chance creation — they've just struggled to make their efforts count.

If a meeting with Southampton or Millwall in the play-off semi-finals materialises, which is likely going to be the case, barring a drop-off from Ipswich, then they'll be wary of the quality that Boro possesses when they're on top of their game.