THEY ended their poor run on the road when they won at Reading four days ago – now Daniel Ayala is hoping Middlesbrough deliver their fans a belated Christmas present by returning to winning ways at the Riverside this afternoon.

The Teessiders have struggled on home soil in recent weeks, with last Tuesday’s bitterly disappointing Carabao Cup defeat to Burton Albion making it three home matches without a victory.

Their home form in the Championship has been especially poor, with their last seven Riverside outings in the league producing just seven points and resulting in a return of just four goals.

That is clearly not promotion form, and while George Friend’s winning strike at the Madejski Stadium lifted Boro back into fourth position, they are in danger of losing touch with the Championship’s current top two if they do not start stringing together a lengthy winning run.

Their festive fixtures could hardly be more inviting, with Sheffield Wednesday travelling to Teesside this afternoon on the back of a run of two wins in 11 matches, before Ipswich Town head north on Saturday after winning just one of their last 11 games.

A six-point haul would be the perfect way to sign off for 2018, and having been booed off the field in the wake of last week’s tame cup exit, Ayala admits Boro’s players owe the supporters some feel-good festive fare.

“We have to get back to winning at home now,” said the centre-half, who played as part of a five-man backline at the Madesjki Stadium. “It was important to get the win at Reading, but we know our results at home have not been good enough recently, and we have to put that right.

“We have two home games coming up now, and we have to make the most of them. We have dropped away from a few of the teams at the top a bit recently, and we need to close that gap. We want to get promoted automatically, and if we are going to do that, we are going to have to start winning games at the Riverside.”

December’s results prior to last weekend were far from ideal, but while Boro’s supporters might have been growing increasingly restless, the mood within the camp was far from one of panic.

Pulis has assembled a squad that boasts a host of Championship experience, and while Leeds and Norwich might be pushing on at the top of the table, it is hard for any side to go through a full season in the second tier without experiencing a wobble.

The challenge is not to allow any setbacks to derail the entire campaign, and in the likes of Ayala, Stewart Downing, Aden Flint, George Friend, Adam Clayton and Jonny Howson, Boro boast a core of players who have experienced the highs and lows of life in the Championship on plenty of occasions in the past.

“If you look through our team, you can see there is a lot of experience there,” said Ayala. “That is why we have not been panicking even though we have had a few disappointing results. We are experienced players, and we know you are going to get that in football.

“You are going to get that in the season, periods when things are not going your way. When you have a lot of experience, you know that has happened before, and you know that as long as you keep calm and keep doing what you have been doing, things will come right.”

Saturday’s performance was a far from vintage display, but by keeping a clean sheet at Reading, Boro at least rediscovered the kind of defensive resolve that was so crucial to their results in the early months of the season.

Pulis will be tempted to stick with a five-man defence again this afternoon, although Ryan Shotton’s anticipated absence with a knee injury complicates matter. If Pulis wants to stick with five at the back, he will have to field Dael Fry at wing-back and restore Danny Batth to the centre-half positions.

That is an option, although Ayala claims the identity of the players stationed in the defensive positions is not the key to Boro’s success at that end of the field. Instead, the Spaniard points to a mindset that runs throughout the team as the main reason for the Teessiders boasting the best defensive record in the Championship.

“We can play in different defensive formations, and with different people in the team, but it is not really about that when you keep a clean sheet,” he said. “It is about the team. Whenever we defend well, we defend well as a team.

“It starts from the front – from Britt (Assombalonga) or Jordan (Hugill), or whoever is playing – and then it spreads through the rest of the team from there. It is not just the defenders who have to defend. We have kept quite a lot of clean sheets this season because the whole of the team joins in the defending and take pride from the way we play and defend.”

Shotton’s absence is unlikely to be the only change to the side that won at Reading, with Pulis expected to shuffle his pack as he deals with a run of four games in the space of 11 days.

Hugill could replace Assombalonga in attack, while Stewart Downing is also expected to return to the starting line-up after he was rested at the weekend.

“I wanted to give Stew a rest,” explained Boro boss Tony Pulis. “He’s started most of the games, so with two home games, Stewart’s a very, very important player for us at home. With two home games coming up, we’ll need Stew.”

The games are coming thick and fast at the moment, but as an avowed traditionalist, Pulis has urged the footballing authorities not to tinker with a festive programme he regards as one of the jewels of the British sporting calendar.

“I am a great advocate of Christmas and Easter games,” he said. “It’s unique, its traditional. It’s the way it used to be and there are not many things that are how they used to be. I know people moan and groan, but traditionally this period is very special for people of this country, and we service the people of this country.”

Middlesbrough (probable, 5-4-1): Randolph; Fry, Ayala, Flint, Batth, Friend; Howson, Clayton, Besic, Downing; Hugill.