Aitor Karanka: 'When we play in the way we know how to, we can beat everyone'

Aitor Karanka expects the Championship’s top teams to soon pull away at the summit as Boro prepare for their second match in just over 72 hours.

Boro heaped further pressure on top two Bournemouth and Derby following Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Charlton, a fifth straight success for Karanka’s men.

Tomorrow sees Boro travel to basement boys Blackpool while Steve McClaren’s Rams face leaders Bournemouth, meaning another three points could lift Karanka’s men to top of the Championship.

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Boro are now four points ahead of fourth-placed Brentford and nine points clear of Norwich, who currently sit just outside the play-off places in seventh.

Karanka expects even bigger gaps to open up in the coming weeks with Boro braced for a gruelling fixture schedule of eight matches in the next 26 days.

“Each game is now going to be even more important, but we have to think about ourselves,” Karanka said.

“When we play in the way we know how to, we can beat everyone.

“It’s three months until the finish and each point that you lose now is very difficult to recover.

“Bournemouth and Derby are winning their games so we have to keep going and be strong.

“This is the most important moment in the league because we have six games in the next 20 days. After those games we can look to the future, but we need to go to Blackpool thinking it will be a very tough game.

“The main thing is that we’re in February, we are one point off the top of the table and I have 24 or 25 players always ready to play.”

Goals from Patrick Bamford, Jelle Vossen and newly-crowned Championship Player of the Month Lee Tomlin earned Boro the three points against the Addicks.

And with Spaniard Kike having also found the net at Manchester City, Boro’s attacking quartet have all returned to the goals trail in recent weeks.

Goalless draws at Blackburn and Reading over the festive period sparked alarm bells among some quarters, but Boro’s boss was always confident that his strikers would rediscover their goalscoring touch.

“I knew because I know my players,” Karanka added.

“Football is goals and when you have all your strikers scoring it’s very important. Now we have Lee scoring, Jelle scoring, Patrick scoring, and Kike scored against Man City. We have six games in the next 20 days so I will need all of them.”