Middlesbrough vs Bournemouth - Aitor Karanka keeps faith with his methods

Posted Saturday, October 29, 2016 by PA

Aitor Karanka has insisted he never doubted himself as Middlesbrough's encouraging start to life in the Premier League turned to frustration.

The Teessiders had launched their campaign in promising fashion as draws with Stoke and West Brom either side of a victory at Sunderland left them sitting pretty in the top half of the table.

However, a return of just one point from their next five games saw them slip to within a hair's breadth of the relegation zone before last Saturday's impressive 0-0 draw at Arsenal provided vindication for head coach Karanka's belief that they would get where they wanted to go if they stuck to their guns.

Asked if he ever questioned his methods during a difficult run, he said: "No. Doubts? Never because I trust myself a lot, I trust my players a lot and my staff, so when results are not coming, I know I have to change something.

"But it is not the same playing against Arsenal away and to play Bournemouth at home and to play Manchester City away. Every single team and every single game is different.

"But the plan is clear and the players know, especially the players who have been with me for the last three years, so we have to keep going."

The performance which yielded a deserved point at the Emirates Stadium could hardly have been better timed with the fixture list presenting Boro with a series of sizeable challenges in the weeks ahead.

Manchester City, Chelsea and Leicester will provide the opposition in between Saturday's home clash with Bournemouth and Hull's visit to the Riverside on December 5, and while Karanka refuses to write off any game, he knows the bulk of his side's points are likely to come from the division's lower-ranked teams.

He said: "Yes, of course. For example, to lose against Watford, to lose against Crystal Palace, even when we didn't deserve to lose those games - if you look at the table, with two points from those games, it would be much better."

Karanka has led Boro into battle with the Cherries three times during his reign to date, all of them in the Sky Bet Championship, and is yet to taste victory after two 0-0 draws and a 3-0 defeat at the Vitality Stadium the last time the sides met in March last year.

Having seen them at close hand, he is not surprised at how comfortably Eddie Howe's men have taken to lift in the top flight.

The Spaniard said: "It's not a surprise for me because I really like Eddie. I met him during my first season here and the job he is doing there is amazing."

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe insists Jack Wilshere's loan is proving beneficial to both parties despite the Arsenal midfielder completing 90 minutes only once for the Cherries.

The 24-year-old's career has been beset by injury problems and eyebrows were raised at the end of the summer transfer window when he agreed to leave his parent club Arsenal and join Bournemouth on a season-long loan deal.

But the bold move to get his career back on track seems to be heading in the right direction. Last weekend Wilshere started and completed a Premier League match for the first time since September 2014 - and it was the sixth successive league game in which he has taken part for the Cherries.

The significance is not lost on Howe and he is pleased with the positive influence the midfielder is having on his squad.

"We're delighted to have him, as we've said many, many times," said Howe at his press conference on Friday morning ahead of the Premier League trip to Middlesbrough.

"I think he's an outstanding footballer and I was delighted to see him play 90 minutes. It's a big moment for him, no doubt. And a big moment for us because we want Jack performing at his very best levels and I think if he is then we are going to be a lot better team for that.

"I think he's improving with every game and in training as well he has been great around the squad so it has been beneficial for both parties so far."

Bournemouth head to the Riverside on Saturday still looking for their first away win of the season in the Premier League but Howe believes his team will soon break their duck.

He said: "Football is an amazing game, last season we did really well away from home and struggled at home and in the early stages of this season it's kind of been reversed.

"But it's still early days and I don't think there's anything wrong with our away performances. At Watford arguably we should have won and Crystal Palace we were seconds away from winning."