MICHAEL Carrick gave his Middlesbrough players a dose of perspective at half-time of Middlesbrough's game against QPR.

Sensing a bit of frustration after a sloppy first half, the head coach had a question for those in red: "Would you have taken this position four months ago?"

The answer to that question from anyone connected with Boro is an emphatic yes.

As for another question, can Boro catch Sheffield United? Well Carrick isn't as forthcoming when it comes to answering that one.

"Keep trying," the head coach laughed as he left his press conference after the reporters present had tried once more to get him to lower his guard and discuss Boro's automatic promotion hopes.

Such was his focus on Boro, Carrick claimed that he'd forgotten Sheffield United were in even in action in the early kick-off.

"That's genuine," he pleaded.

So is Boro's automatic promotion push. This time last week the gap to the Blades was 10 points. It's now four.

Perhaps the realisation that the door was slightly ajar after Sheffield United's Millwall slip-up was one of the reasons behind the disjointed first half showing at the Riverside on Saturday. There's no doubt that fatigue following the Bramall Lane effort and having to lift themselves again so soon after was a major contributing factor, and so too the fact it was a changed team, with Aaron Ramsey and Dan Barlaser coming in for their first starts.

But sensing the opportunity, Boro maybe tried to force it at times in the first half rather than finding their natural rhythm and flow. Carrick kept it simple at the break: Just relax. The head coach is always reluctant to take credit and instead turns it the way of the players, and of course those on the pitch deserve another almighty pat on the back. But this was yet another example of his half-time approach paying dividends.

Look back at the results under Carrick and just how many times Boro have either turned it on or found a way in the second half. They blew Sheffield United away after the interval, broke Millwall down and did the same at Birmingham, came from behind to win at Blackburn and Norwich and kept their focus to score late against Luton.

"We have to have patience," said Carrick.

"They went out second half and did what they’re good at, which I was really pleased with. They showed their patience and confidence. That took a real presence when it wasn’t always going to plan and you’re going to need that between now and the end of the season where there will be lots of different types of games to play and different situations that will be thrown at us.

"We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and trust it. Hopefully more times than not it will work. It might not always come off, but we’ve got to stick to what we are, which is a team that plays a certain way."

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Boro played with freedom after the break. Riley McGree hit the post with the first attack of the second half and from that point onwards it was one way traffic. McGree was terrific again, pulling the strings, perhaps the most improved player under Carrick, though there's plenty of competition. Step forward Chuba Akpom.

Last season, Akpom's only outing in a Boro shirt was a 19-minute cameo from the bench in the home defeat to QPR. How Rangers and the rest of Boro's Championship rivals will wish the former Arsenal striker was still out in the cold on Teesside.

He took his Championship tally for the season to 19 with his second half double. Becoming the first Boro striker since Bernie Slaven in 1989/90 to score 20 goals in a season is now an inevitability. Can he reach 25? 30?

He might want to work on his penalties, mind. After heading home Boro's opener, Akpom had the chance to double the lead when McGree was fouled in the box. The spot-kick was saved by Seny Dieng, but it mattered not, for the striker was on hand to slot home the rebound, no doubt to his own relief.

Zack Steffen's blushes were also spared. He was caught out in the last minute when Ilias Chair found the near post with a direct free-kick from way out to halve the deficit. Nervous finale? Nothing of the sort. Boro went up the other end and McGree hammered home the third goal.

Boro are now hammering on the door of second place, but for Carrick nothing changes.

"We’re concentrating on ourselves and that’s no disrespect to anybody else in the league. But at this point in proceedings, we still have a job to do, so it’s kind of irrelevant really what’s going on around us," he said.

“I’m proud of the way the lads are playing and the way they’re going about it. They’re sticking together and I can see them growing as individuals and as a team. I’m hugely proud of where they’re at. But hopefully we haven’t hit our best yet and there is still more to come."