Darragh Lenihan holds Middlesbrough Premier League ambition ahead of Coventry City showdown

Boro travel to the CBS Arena on Sunday lunchtime looking to put down a marker against the Sky Blues ahead of the return leg at a sold-out Riverside Stadium on Wednesday with the winners to meet either Sunderland or Luton Town at Wembley Stadium for a place in the Premier League.

Lenihan missed out on the opportunity to play in the top flight with Blackburn Rovers having arrived as a 17-year-old as the club would head in the opposite direction into League One before returning to the Championship in 2018.

The Irishman played over 250 games for the Ewood Park club before moving to Teesside last summer where he has gone on to be a key player for Michael Carrick’s side.

And Carrick will continue to lean on Lenihan in what will likely be a white-hot atmosphere at the CBS Arena as Boro look to return to the top flight via the Championship play-offs.

"As a kid growing up watching Premier League games that’s where you want to be but you can’t be thinking past Sunday,” Lenihan told BBC Radio Tees.

"Sunday is our game and the one we will focus on. Anything that comes after that we’ll focus on then.

"Credit to the gaffer and the coaching staff. They’ve instilled that into us where all we can control is what happens on Sunday and after that we’ll see where it takes us.”

Lenihan has missed just one game under Carrick since his arrival in October and the 29-year-old has praised the former Manchester United midfielder for the impact he has had at the Riverside in leading Boro into the play-offs with games to spare.

"Since the gaffer has been in he’s been very consistent with his message, he just wants every performance to give your best and do what he’s asking us to do,” said Lenihan.

"He’s given a level of belief in all of the players.

"It was difficult at the start, for whatever reason, I couldn’t put a finger on why we weren't getting results because I felt some performances were good but we just weren’t getting the result.

"But since the gaffer has come in everything has just clicked and we’ve got a bit of momentum, a bit of confidence, and that’s what he instilled in us from day one.”

Both Lenihan and Carrick are just three games away from reaching the Premier League for the first time as a player and manager, respectively, and the defender admits he is relishing Boro’s upcoming play-off tussle with Coventry where he will also be tasked with keeping out the Championship’s second top goalscorer in Viktor Gyökeres.

“It’s a challenge we’ll look forward to,” he said.

"You want to be competing against the best. You want to test yourself in each game and it will be a test but it will be an enjoyable one hopefully.

“I’ve said before, look where Forest came from last year. Why can’t we do the same? It’s a great league and a great division to be in but on its day anyone can beat anyone which makes it exciting."