MICHAEL Carrick is relishing the Championship run-in after his Middlesbrough side thrust themselves "right back into the mix" with much-needed back-to-back wins last week.

Boro had dropped into the bottom half of the second tier and their promotion hopes looked to be fading fast after a run of five straight league defeats.

But after last Tuesday's success at Stoke was followed by a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Derby County on Saturday, Carrick's side are now just two points shy of the top six.

And, on paper, they have a decent run of fixtures to come.

Starting with Saturday's trip to Swansea, Boro's next four games are against sides currently 16th, 14th, 22nd and 18th in the Championship table.

With just five points separating fifth and 11th, there won't be much room for error in the run-in.

But Carrick is confident and insists he never gave up on promotion, even in the middle of his side's alarming slump.

"We were never miles away in our own mind," he said.

"We knew there was always going to be ups and downs to come. Hopefully there are a lot more ups to come now.

"We’re right in there, we have a fighting chance and we look forward to the run in. I never felt we were far away and always feel we have a good chance of winning every game we’re involved in.

"We won’t get carried away, but we’re right in the mix and everyone is that little bit more positive after getting the rewards for the hard work."

After last month's home defeat to Watford, Carrick admitted he could see his side's confidence had taken a big hit. But the mood in the dressing room has been transformed after two wins.

He said: “There’s a natural difference. The confidence took a hit, but the belief and the will to win certainly didn’t.

"Obviously there is a lot more bounce around the place, which you wouldn’t want to see anyway when you haven’t won. We took a bit of a hit, that was clear to see, but it was never to the point where I was concerned we couldn’t turn it around and were in a troubled place.

"We always felt we were close to another win. It keeps moving. Now, it doesn’t mean we’ve cracked it and everything is great. There is still plenty in the season to go. It was a good week for us, but now we freshen up and get ready to go again."