Middlesbrough's next five Championship games will tell us a lot about their promotion credentials
Middlesbrough's best start to a season for six years leaves many still confident about their Championship promotion credentials, but it's fair to say their next five games should give us a clearer idea of what can be reasonably expected.
Taking us into the season's second international break, the next five games will by no means make or break Boro's campaign, but with games against the current top three and also Stoke City, who have already won handsomely at the Riverside this season, it's fair to say the next five could prove a bit of a yardstick for Michael Carrick's promotion hopefuls.
With strong sides competing for the same end goal, Boro have mainly been tipped for a top-six finish this season - which would see Carrick once again trying to guide Boro back to the Premier League via the play-offs. But after a really ambitious summer transfer window, it's fair to say that there is at least a cautious optimism that a top-two finish isn't completely out of reach.
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And again, while the next five games won't guarantee or deny those hopes completely, it's fair to say that the challenge ahead should give us a much better idea of just how close, or far, Boro are from being a side capable of making a push for automatic promotion.
It all starts again on Saturday at the Riverside where Boro will be hoping to build on their positive victory over Cardiff City before the break when they host Preston North End. It's been a tumultuous start to the season for the Lilywhites, as they sacked boss Ryan Lowe after just one game.
Former Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom took the reins at Deepdale and won his first game in charge, though the new-manager bounce didn't last long as they went into the break on the back of a 3-1 defeat to Oxford United. They'll be without the suspended Liam Lindsay at the Riverside, but former loanee Sam Greenwood will make his return. Of Boro's next five, it feels imperative they keep up their positive home record against Preston to claim all three points, as expected.
Following that one comes the big one - the visit to the Stadium of Light to take on high-flying Sunderland. They've had their best start to a campaign in almost a century and sit top of the league after four wins from four, with just one goal conceded. Before Boro's visit, they'll be favourites to add another three points too as they travel to winless Plymouth Argyle.
New boss Regis Le Bris has enjoyed a great start on Wearside and the atmosphere will expected to be a buoyant one for Boro's visit. In three games against Sunderland so far, Carrick has one of each result and, with both sides now targeting promotion this season, it promises to be an intriguing early clash.
There comes a chance for redemption seven days later as Stoke visit the Riverside for the second time this season. They emphatically won 5-0 in the recent Carabao Cup second-round meeting between the sides, albeit, with both much-changed for that game. Results in the league have been mixed so far, with two wins and two defeats and a minus-two goal difference thus far.
Then there's little recuperation time after that one as Boro travel to the Black Country to take on West Brom on October 1. The Baggies, despite off-field troubles over the last six months or so, have had an excellent start to the season and, along with Sunderland, are the only other unbeaten side so far.
The only blemish on their record was a draw with promotion favourites Leeds United, while striker Josh Maja has enjoyed an excellent start to the season and is joint-top of the scoring charts with four from four. Carrick's record isn't a good one at the Hawthorns either, with defeats in both of his visits with Boro so far. Portsmouth, Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday represents a run of games that could allow them to get more points on the board ahead of that game as well.
Finally, taking us into the next international break, Boro the travel to Watford to take on the third of their top-three opponents coming up in the tough next five games. After ending last season with a defeat to Boro, manager Tom Cleverley discussed his ambitions to transform the Hornets into promotion contenders again. They started well with wins over Millwall, Derby and Stoke, but will be looking to bounce back when they return to action this weekend against Coventry after losing their last game at Sheffield United.
Five unique and testing challenges for Boro and Carrick. They are expected to have key men like Rav van den Berg and Jonny Howson back for them. The break will have hopefully helped the likes of George Edmundson and Micah Hamilton integrate further too, while the likes of Ben Doak and Tommy Conway improved their sharpness with international duty. We should learn a lot about Boro in these next five.