Former Middlesbrough man has just helped hand Michael Carrick’s side big play-off boost

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Middlesbrough are battling to secure a place in the 2024/25 Championship play-offs, being helped out by an ex-player on Saturday.

Michael Carrick angered fans this week when he suggested Boro’s 2024/25 season would not be a failure if they don’t make the play-offs.

His comments have caused much debate online, but that needed to be put to one side on Saturday, going into what was a huge game.

Middlesbrough faced Norwich City in a 3pm Championship kick-off, sitting three points off Frank Lampard’s side at the start of the day.

However, Boro were given a helping hand from one of their former stars before a ball had even been kicked against the Canaries.

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Former Middlesbrough ace Isaiah Jones’ key role in Luton Town beating Coventry City

Coventry City kicked off earlier in the day, taking on a relegation-threatened Luton Town in a big match for both teams.

When all was said and done, Coventry lost to Luton by 1-0 goal to nil and former Middlesbrough man Isaiah Jones played a key role.

The game was a scrappy affair, with the Sky Blues down to 10 men after 13 minutes and Luton receiving a red card of their own with just under 70 minutes gone.

In the end, Shandon Baptiste scored the only goal of the match in the final minutes.

While he did not get the assist, it was Jones’ original long ball into the box that led to Luton scoring.

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Isaiah Jones stats for Luton Town vs Coventry

Jones’ Luton coming out on top meant that no matter what happened between Boro and Norwich at 3pm, they would still only be three points off the Sky Blues going into their final day meeting next weekend.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
5	Bristol CityBristol City	44	17	16	11	57	49	8	67
6	CoventryCoventry	44	19	9	16	62	57	5	66
7	MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough	44	18	9	17	64	54	10	63
8	MillwallMillwall	44	17	12	15	45	46	-1	63
9	BlackburnBlackburn	44	18	8	18	50	46	4	62

Boro had a much better goal difference as well, so unless they were hammered 7-0 by the Canaries, they were in a good spot.

Jones did not have the most consistent stint on Teesside, but his stats on Saturday were solid.