Kim Hellberg hoping for favour from Southampton as Middlesbrough chase promotion

Kim Hellberg is hoping Southampton can do Middlesbrough a huge favour when they host Ipswich on Tuesday night after the Teessiders beat Watford 5-1 in their penultimate game of the Sky Bet Championship season.

Morgan Whittaker and Tommy Conway scored two goals apiece at the Riverside, with David Strelec also finding the net in Boro’s joint-biggest win of the campaign.

If Ipswich win at St Mary’s on Tuesday, Boro will travel to Wrexham on the final day knowing they will have to be content with a place in the play-offs.

However, if Tuesday’s game on the south coast ends in either a draw or a Southampton victory, Boro will head into the final weekend with their hopes of securing automatic promotion still alive.

Hellberg said: “Football is an unbelievable sport, and you know that if it goes down to the last day, it is difficult to know how anyone is going to handle that.

“We’ve come from a position where we really felt we had nothing to lose in the last week. It felt as though it was probably gone, but if Ipswich do not win their next game, then it will come down to the last day of the season.

“If that happens, you never know. There are a lot of things that play into that type of game.

Hopefully, Southampton can take at least a point from Ipswich, and then we will get that exciting last day of the season.”

While Boro were somewhat fortunate to be leading by two goals at the interval against Watford, their second-half performance oozed quality.

Hellberg said: “The first half was not good for us, but it was two moments of brilliance, the first goal from Morgan and then the brilliant attack that led to the second. That is how we want to play.

“Then the second half is one of our best performances all season. I like how we played, how we took the ball forward and how calm we were on the ball.”

Watford boss Edward Still was reasonably pleased with his side’s first-half performance, even if he admitted the final result was tough to take.

Still is hoping for a major overhaul in the summer, but wants his side to go out a high when they finish the season at home to Premier League-bound Coventry next weekend.

Still said: “The final result is really painful. The first-half performance was really good, as strange as it sounds after the game. I was really proud of the first-half performance, we were really positive and that’s what I want my team to look like.

“We got back into it with a goal after the break, but the third goal was a reflection of just how flaky we are in both boxes. There is not enough resilience in the team.

“A reset is needed on many points. Now is not the time to go into it – the least we can do is give something back to the fans next weekend at the Vic. It has been a draining season but that doesn’t excuse a result like this.”