Aitor Karanka: 'Everyone connected with Boro should be proud of what the players have done so far this season'

Aitor Karanka believes everyone connected with the club should be proud of what his players have done so far this season.

Ahead of the Championship clash against Millwall, Boro sit second in the table.

As Karanka pointed out in aftermath of Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, the club was struggling in the bottom half of the division when he took charge in November 2013.

And, to be second in the table with a similar budget to last season’s, is a major achievement in his eyes

“If we were in this position having spent a lot of money on big, big players then you could say that’s only to be expected because we have spent a lot of money - but we have spent nothing,” he argued.

Aitor Karanka

“The money have spent is the money we received when we sold players at the start of the season so with the same budget last season we were two points above the relegation position when I came here and now we are second in the table,” added Karanka, who’s maths wasn’t quite accurate because Boro were actually five points above the drop zone when he took charge.

“So the job is going well, the work is going well but not just my work it is all the people’s work here and for this reason I want to transmit to everybody where we were 15 months ago.

“At the beginning of the season we thought if we get promotion it is perfect or if we don’t get promotion but we are fighting until the end then.

“But I don’t like to think what will happen in May, I only think about the next game but it is true all of us have to be realistic.

“If you said to us in pre-season we would be second in March I think all of us would have taken it.”