Aitor Karanka will not let his Boro players get carried away with the fact that they have won four games in a row
Boro boss Aitor Karanka has promised to treat Millwall with the utmost respect tomorrow, and not let his players get carried away with the fact that they have won four games in a row.
The level-headed manager knows that it would take a highly unlikely sequence of results for his side to finish in the play-off places, but he has stressed that the stakes are high in every match, and he expects top professional standards from his players.
“You have to respect the league because every game we have left is against a team either trying to beat relegation, or get promoted,” he said.
“Millwall will be be a tough game and we have to play for a clean sheet and get goals. We have done that in games. But we always take one game at a time. I concentrate on the next game and the next training session.
“Of course we want to win our last four, but it will be very difficult to get ino the play-offs, though in football you never know.
“I understand that the fans are excited because they feel we have a chance of the play-offs. But I have to be realistic. I am happy and smiling because the team is playing well.
“When we are playing well and winning I do regret that the season is coming to an end, but since I came here in November I think it has been a success whatever happens in the remaining games.”
Karanka feels he has made good progress with the team and wants them to prove that by keeping their winning run going until the end of the campaign.
“When we played the away game at Millwall (in December) we were near the bottom three. We had played well against Derby, Birmingham and Brighton, but we hadn’t won.
“Winning that one changed our way, and we went in the right direction. So it was a big win for us, a big three points.”
Beating Millwall led to a run of just two defeats in 12 league games. And completing the double tomorrow would confirm Boro’s progress.
And they could be boosted by the return of George Friend. The full-back was back in training yesterday following muscle damage sustained in the win over Birmingham and is fit enough to be selected.
“He is an important player because he has played most of the games,” said the manager. “And we also have Ken Omeruo back after suspension.”
However central defender Daniel Ayala is suspended following his red card in last week’s uplifting win against promotion chasing Burnley, while fellow defender Ben Gibson is also sidelined through suspension, having picked up his second red card of the season, against Birmingham.
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