While many Middlesbrough fans may be starting to dream, Kim Hellberg says he can't allow himself or his players to get carried away

Kim Hellberg insists Middlesbrough can’t afford to get carried away, as their exciting promotion push continued at Stoke City on Tuesday evening.

In what has been an impressive few days for Boro, they’ve won big tests against Wolves and Stoke City - two sides who, going into the games, sat third and fourth respectively.

Both were dispatched by Hellberg’s side, as Boro retain their second-placed spot behind only Swansea City, and continue to earn many plaudits from far and wide.

Many supporters, meanwhile, continue to ride the wave of what has been such a positive period for the club.

After a solid start to the season, the reason break brought good vibes as the club hosted its Legacy Game as part of the 150th anniversary year celebrations.

That continued into the home win over Wolves, which was designated as the club’s 150 Fixture, with celebrations around the game in honour of the club’s birthday.

With a big win in that Wolves game now followed up by a win at in-form Stoke - and in the manner it came too, with the last-minute winner, it’s hard to escape the feeling that something special could be happening at Boro.

Asked if he could sense similar, however, a grounded Hellberg insisted he can’t allow himself to get carried away, even if he’s happy for supporters to.

“There is a lovely group of players to work with here, and a lovely group of supporters,” he said. “I look forward to working every day. That's how I look at it.

“It’s a brilliant group to work with. They work as hard as they ever can to try to win football games, and to improve. I love working with them.

“We can’t allow ourselves to think too much about what might be. We can’t look at it like that. I'm more looking at trying to win the next game, and now it's Cardiff on Saturday.

“We will work very hard up to that one, because that is a tough one. They have been very, very impressive in the way they play.

“It's always next, next, next, and another tough game. After Cardiff, I think Bolton beat Wolves today. Our game on Saturday was a massive back and forth.

“And last time, after a similar game against Norwich for us, we couldn't get up to speed against Millwall in the first half. I'm so happy that we handled that better tonight. We talked so much about that, and I think we succeeded very well in that.”

Cardiff City visit the Riverside on Saturday off the back of their own big win on Tuesday evening. Brian Barry-Murphy’s side impressively beat Watford 5-1. They sit 18th in the Championship.