Exclusive:'Never happen at...' - How 'Man Utd mentality' can boost Middlesbrough's Premier League promotion push

The Manchester United mentality can help Middlesbrough avoid the disheartening experience Luton Town suffered during their brief stint in the Premier League.

Michael Carrick’s men are three points shy of the Championship play-off places after a goal in each half from Tommy Conway and Anfernee Dijksteel helped them to a 2-1 win against a Queens Park Rangers side sat in the bottom half of the table. A trip to Luton is next on the agenda for Carrick and his players as they look to push into the top six with a win at Kenilworth Road.

Despite enjoying some positive results following their surprise promotion into the Premier League two years ago, the Hatters were sucked into the relegation zone after a run of just one win in their last 18 games eventually led to an immediate return to the Championship. The negativity continued into the current campaign and a dismal first half to the season brought the departure of manager Rob Edwards in January. The arrival of new boss Matt Bloomfield has not exactly heralded a resurrection of fortunes - but two wins in their last three games have moved the Hatters to within two points of escaping the drop zone ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Boro.

The possibility Boro could force their way into the play-offs and secure a return to the Premier League can not be ruled out as the climax to a season full of mixed emotions rapidly approaches. That would mirror the events of Luton’s own promotion into the top flight - but former Middlesbrough manager Gordon Strachan believes the Manchester United mentality instilled into Boro boss Michael Carrick during his time working under Sir Alex Ferguson means his old club would not follow the example set by Saturday’s opponents.

He told makthavare.se: “We’ve seen teams going up to the Premier League recently that are getting gobbled up and getting kicked out again. If you go up with a right flaky side, then you'll come right back down again. That’s what happened with Luton, because it's not an established team. You see what's happening to them, it becomes too much for the whole club.

“That'll never happen at Middlesbrough. I think for Michael Carrick, he can't even think about anything else at the moment apart from going up. I'm sure he's like that because he's come from that mentality at Man United, that you play, you win, you do things right. I'm sure he'll be a success in football.”

Your next Middlesbrough read: Middlesbrough boss delivers strong Championship play-off message after QPR win