The Teessiders trounced promotion hopefuls Cardiff 3- 0 in their penultimate game of the current campaign, with first-half goals from Leroy Lita, Barry Robson and Richie Smallwood securing an emphatic victory in south Wales.
Boro have now lost just one of their last 11 matches and could yet finish in the top half of the Championship table if they beat Doncaster on Saturday and other results go in their favour.
Such an outcome was all but unthinkable when Mowbray replaced Gordon Strachan last October with the side languishing in 21st position, but the former skipper has engineered a remarkable turnaround that is already sparking considerable optimism ahead of next season.
Major squad changes could still be in the offing this summer, with chairman Steve Gibson keen to trim more than ?10m off the wage bill.
But if he can keep the bulk of the current squad intact, Mowbray claims there are reasons to be optimistic as the current campaign draws to an end.
If most of the squad are here, I think there are a lot of positives we can take, he said.
There are youngsters like Richie Smallwood who have come in and done a good job for us, and if they have to play a prominent role next season, we know they can do that.
I think all the players feel there is something for us to grab on to, and hopefully we can have some optimism about next season.
This season has been disappointing overall, there's no doubt about that.
We're mid table and there were aspirations of promotion this year that never really materialised.
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo