TONY Mowbray believes his youthful Middlesbrough side will relish the chance to wreck Cardiff’s promotion party.

Boro may have fallen well short in the race for the Premier League this season, but they find themselves thrust into the thick of the promotion race in South Wales this afternoon.

Opponents Cardiff are desperate for three points to apply pressure to Norwich City, who occupy the second automatic promotion spot and play immediately after Boro’s Bank Holiday clash with the Bluebirds.

It promises to be a tense, nervous afternoon for their hosts and an anticipated full house.

However, Mowbray admits he would happily have put himself through the emotional wringer if only his side had been good enough to tilt for the top.

Instead, he will settle for the challenge of trying to upbraid Cardiff, who will provide a stern examination of his side’s recent renaissance.

Mowbray said: “We are all looking forward to it - it will be a good test for us and our attitude is we are going there to make life difficult for them.

“It is a huge game for them with their ambitions of trying to finish in the top two.

“I have been there in the past in the Championship – you become nervous towards the end and it makes it more difficult for you. From Cardiff’s perspective they have Middlesbrough coming to town and looking at the league table they will probably see it as a decent fixture – we are a team in the bottom half of the table and they are playing at home.

“Yet we are on a decent run of form, we have scored a few goals away from home and it will be big a test for them.”

He added: “It is the same for us because we are pitting ourselves against (Craig) Bellamy, (Jay) Bothroyd, (Peter) Whittingham, (Stephen) McPhail.

“The professionalism and will to win in the players as individuals should be coming out in this game. We are aware of the threats they possess but we can go and enjoy the occasion and make sure we take part and continue in a similar sort of vein away from home that we have done recently.”

Having failed to turn around Middlesbrough’s season quickly enough to turn them into promotion contenders Mowbray will look on enviously at Cardiff.

They have possessed exactly the ‘winning mentality’ the Boro boss is desperate for in his charges.

The search for that sort of character will provide all the motivation Mowbray needs as his side hit the Championship’s final furlong.

He said: “They do not need the manager to drive them on.

“The best players are self-motivated and self-driven – they do not need the manager to drive them on and that is what we will be looking for this week.

“I have talked a lot to them about what goes on in their minds and having played for 20 odd years, I can safely say you are constantly having to test yourself.”

Boro are likely to be without hamstring injury victim Scott McDonald, but Mowbray will not use the game to blood any more youngsters.

Stephen McManus steps back into the back four, while the Middlesbrough boss hangs fire on young guns like Ben Gibson, who made his debut in the defeat of Coventry.

He added: “I don’t think it is a day for the young lads, live on the TV.

“I could be tempted to blood them, but I think the nature of the game suggests we need to put a strong side out.”