TONY Mowbray admits it is 'now or never' as Middlesbrough attempt to salvage their stalling promotion campaign with a maximum return over the Easter weekend.

Boro will attempt to claw back a five-point gap to the play-off places when they take on relegation-threatened Wolves and Peterborough in the space of four days.

The Teessiders travel to Molineux tomorrow before hosting Peterborough at the Riverside on Tuesday, and with just six more games to play after that, the Easter double-header is likely to prove crucial to their faltering promotion hopes.

Mowbray's side have claimed just two Championship victories since the turn of the year, and after a series of false dawns in the last three months, any margin for error has disappeared.

"The time for talking has stopped," said the Middlesbrough manager. "We've said a lot about this, that and the other in the last couple of months. Things haven't really gone to plan, but we're still very much in it. But we have to start winning now."I don't have to stress the importance of this to the players or try to keep them positive. They look at the league table and fixture list and they know we have to start winning football matches again now. Otherwise, the season will dribble away.

"But the positive spin is that if we go to Wolves and get three points, we'll be going into a home game to have another really good go at getting the six points that will enable us to really get excited about the last six games."

For the majority of the campaign, Boro have been ensconced in the top two fighting off the challenge of the sides beneath them in the table.

Now, as the season enters its business phase, they find themselves relying on the misfortune of others as they look to scramble back into the top six.

It is not the way Mowbray would have planned things, indeed it is not the way things looked like panning out as recently as the start of last month, but with expectations now lower than a snake's belly, the hope is that Boro can sneak under the radar and stage an unlikely renaissance.

No one is talking about them as play-off candidates now, but perhaps a lack of expectation will elicit a radical improvement in fortunes.

"Sometimes, it's easier to attack things from behind," said Mowbray. "We've talked about it before, when we were sitting in the play-off positions, that it's sometimes easier to come from behind. We have to have that mentality now."We have to be aggressive going into games, trying to win them instead of having any subconscious fear of losing. We have to be positive at all times and that's what we'll be trying to do. If we can do that and hit a vein of form we know we're capable of, let's see where it takes us."

The major positive ahead of tomorrow's game is that Mowbray will be able to select from arguably the strongest squad he has presided over all season.

Emmanuel Ledesma has been ruled out after picking up a knock in training this week, while Josh McEachran is a doubt because of the ankle injury that restricted his involvement on international duty with England under-21s.

However, with the likes of Jonathan Woodgate, Rhys Williams, Mustapha Carayol and Lukas Jutkiewicz posting a clean bill of health, Mowbray has some welcome selection dilemmas ahead of the trip to the Black Country.

On the one hand, he could pack his side with the likes of Woodgate, Stephen McManus, Nicky Bailey and Scott McDonald, players who have extensive experience of high-stakes encounters.

On the other, he could opt to rely on the likes of Carayol, Adam Reach and Curtis Main, youngsters who might not be as burdened by recent failures.

"It's about trying to balance experience with youthful enthusiasm," he said. "It's about getting the right blend of the two. Sometimes, your experience might not be as athletic or as driven.

"In certain areas of the pitch, I think experience is crucial, but in others, I feel as though youthfulness and a dynamic element is more important. Sometimes, younger players don't see the fear as much, they just want to be playing and out there. It's about a balance."