Karanka cheered by Boro’s fighting spirit ahead of relegation battle

They may have seen their FA Cup hopes dashed by Manchester City but Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka believes the spirit they showed bodes well for trying to secure Premier League safety this season.

Goals from David Silva and Sergio Aguero did the damage for Boro on Saturday as the Citizens booked a semi-final visit to Wembley.

Middlesbrough meanwhile now turn their attentions back to the league where they currently find themselves inside the bottom three.

(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Scoring goals has been a key problem this term – they have notched just 19 in 27 matches, the fewest in the Premier League.

And they were dealt a possible blow on Saturday with forward Rudy Gestede – a £6m January signing from Aston Villa – suffering a lower back injury, while defender Bernardo also limped off.

But Karanka – whose team have ten games left this season to stay up – was definitely not throwing in the towel, encouraged by the way his team performed against City.

“We had one injury after 20 minutes and another at the start of the second half – you have to change everything but you have only one substitution left,” he said.

“But for me, the most important thing was what the team has done on the pitch.

“We needed to recover our confidence, and the best way to do that is to work hard and stay together.

“I told them that going in this way, we will win games.”