The battle for consistency of performance must be won – pretty quickly – if Middlesbrough are to establish themselves as serious top six contenders.

With the club’s injury list much shorter than it has been for some time, there are no excuses. Michael Carrick has a pretty decent squad at his disposal and plenty of options when it comes to selecting the side.

Boro have struggled lately when they come up against teams, usually from lower in the table, who have special game plans purely for Carrick’s men. This was evident at Plymouth where the Pilgrims did a man-marking job on Finn Azaz, and also highlighted potential Boro weaknesses down their left flank.

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Neto Borges can be exposed when put under pressure from lively wide players while Boro’s failure to stop Plymouth attacks in the early stages was the root cause of their problems. A few different game plans for the Boro might be useful. Give the opposition more to think about than they expected.

Boro have an occasional awful habit of failing to make enough impact in games where the pundits claim that they need only to turn up to win. It’s a tough league You need the ability to out-smart the opposition as well as out-playing them.

So Boro must be fully primed and charged up for the visit of revitalised Sheffield Wednesday. Boro are defending a great Boxing Day record at the Riverside, having won nine of their last ten December 26 fixtures at the stadium.

Ironically the only defeat during these fixtures came at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday, when Tony Pulis ’s men were beaten 1-0 in 2018. To make matters worse, the only goal of the game was scored by former Boro midfielder Adam Reach.

The Owls are currently enjoying a better season than many people might have expected. They will surely have their eyes focussed on achieving at least the coveted sixth play-off position. They have lost only one of their last seven games under German manager Danny Rohl, the defeat coming by 1-0 at home to Blackburn Rovers. Boro lost by the same scoreline to Rovers a couple of weeks earlier.

Boro must be more together as a team than they were at Plymouth, while certain players need to take the bull by the horns. We were all lifted by the lively efforts of Ben Doak when he first arrived at the club but now the teenager is striving for a bit more consistency in his play.

He has got to come to terms with the pressure of the non-stop flow of games in the Championship, which was probably the reason why Liverpool wanted him to come here in the first place. Doak has become a key member of the side though Isaiah Jones is waiting in the wings and might yet be given more opportunities.

As I said earlier the left flank remains a problem at times. Delano Burgzorg might provide the better option in front of Borges, though the Brazilian is under pressure himself now that injured defenders are starting to return.

George McCormick is progressing very well and so the teenager cannot be too far away from possible inclusion when Carrick is finalising his team plans. In addition player of the season so far George Edmundson may be no longer guaranteed a start with Dael Fry fully match fit again, Rav van den Berg beginning to look the outstanding player he was last season, and Matt Clarke waiting in the wings.

This competition for places has got to start paying dividends to keep Boro believing that they will definitely take one of the top six places.The last two efforts haven’t been totally convincing but Boro are unbeaten in them both. They must be used as a stepping stone to enjoying a great festive programme.