THE first half against Sheffield Wednesday was why Middlesbrough should be challenging for automatic promotion this season. The second half is why they aren't.

And the first half - and the potential of this side - is evidence of the fact that Boro are underachieving as they reach the midway point of the Championship season sitting outside the play-off places.

After 23 games, Boro are now closer in points to Luton in 18th than they are the top two.

When asked this week whether Boro are out of the automatic promotion race, Michael Carrick said it was "ridiculous" to draw conclusions at this stage of the season. But how can a team riddled by inconsistency close gaps above? Only twice in the first half of the season have Boro managed to string together more than one victory on the bounce and they've now won just one of their last five.

The average points total required to win automatic promotion from the Championship in the last five years has been just shy of 90. That means Boro would need 54 points in the second half of the season. Bearing in mind Leeds and Sheffield United have picked up 48 in the first half of the campaign having both lost just three games.

More of a pressing priority for Boro right now is ensuring they finish in the top six. They're currently on track to finish the season with 72 points, which would have only been enough to secure a play-off place in two of the last five seasons.

Yes, Boro have come on strong in the second half of the last two seasons, which bodes well for the months ahead. But this season was supposed to be different.

After the last two years, this was supposed to be the season when Boro weren't playing catch-up. That's why the bulk of their work in a hugely impressive summer transfer window was done early. Carrick has a squad to rival any in the Championship.

Compare Boro's preparation for this season with Sunderland. The Black Cats were a shambles in the second half of last season and didn't appoint Regis Le Bris until the final week in June. And yet at the midway stage of the season, Boro trail their neighbours by eight points.

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The feeling in the summer is that this was a season of opportunity for Boro and it should have been. It still could be. The division isn't as strong as it has been in previous years and Boro's squad is as deep, strong and balanced as it has been since their last promotion to the Premier League. They've beaten Sheffield United and drawn at Burnley. They're as good as anyone in the Championship on their day.

But they've made a habit of surrendering positions of power and throwing points away. Take the last week. On the back of the win at Millwall, the hope again that a victory would act as a springboard, Boro have scored three goals against the division's worst team and failed to win and raced into a three-goal half-time lead at home and failed to win.

The draw with Boro is the only point Plymouth have picked up in their last six games, a stretch that has seen them concede four goals to Bristol City and Coventry and six to Norwich in heavy defeats.

Compare that with Sunderland, who have conceded first in their last five games but avoided defeat in all of them. The Black Cats find a way to salvage points, Boro find a way to throw them away.

It was put to a clearly livid and despondent Carrick on Boxing Day that Boro can't keep wasting opportunities.

"No, we can't," he said.

"We need to find a consistent level of performance. You have to see it through. We keep making it more difficult for ourselves than we should."

But Boro continue to be plagued by the same issues and don't appear to be learning from their mistakes. Carrick has hardly had the opportunity to name a settled backline but the defensive record still has to be a major concern. Boro have now leaked three goals in three of their last four games and, in total, have conceded more than the top two combined.

And they continue to be let down by game-management and naivety. After Sheffield Wednesday's first goal on Boxing Day, where was the leadership, control and call for calm? At that stage, a comeback should have still been extremely unlikely. Instead, chaos ensued.

It's the same issues again and again, which raises the obvious question as to why they're not been addressed. Or, if they are, why the message isn't getting through.

This team can be very good and this season can still end with promotion but only if those issues are fixed and Boro start delivering consistently rather than in frustrating flashes.