'I don’t know if I will achieve something like at Middlesbrough': Aitor Karanka recalls promotion campaign ahead of Riverside return with Birmingham

Karanka, who took charge of Birmingham at the start of this season, will return to the Riverside this weekend as his Blues side look to end a six-match winless run in the Championship.

The Spainaird received a warm reception from Boro supporters when he was Nottingham Forest’s manager during the 2018/19 season.

No fans will be present at Saturday’s game, though, while Karanka still holds fond memories of his time in the North East.

When asked by the Mail about the prospect of facing Boro this weekend, the Birmingham boss said: “It’s going to be tough because the last two games I went there the crowd was there and the reaction was really emotional for me.

"I was there when I was starting my career and I have been a coach now for seven years.

“I don’t know if I will achieve something in the future but I think what I achieved at Middlesbrough is going to be the best and biggest achievement because to get promotion after two and a half years is going to be difficult to repeat the emotion.

“The relationship with the crowd, the people who work there, with the players, with the owners, with everybody was really good.

“Now I am Blue and I have to try and beat them especially because we have in our heads the game we lost two or three weeks ago against them.”

In that match last month Birmingham were beaten 4-1 by Boro at St Andrew’s despite taking the lead through Maxime Colin 15th-minute strike.

Karanka felt the scoreline was a little harsh on his side and hopes his players can learn from the experience.

When reflecting on December’s meeting, Karanka said: “I think it’s something we have to know that we started the game very well and approached the game really well, then suddenly for five minutes we looked lost.

“I don’t know why we started really well and then got lost because we played really well in the first 25 minutes and had a couple of chances to score the second.

“Suddenly we started to make individual mistakes and lost a game that if you look at the stats they had four shots on target and scored four goals.

“Two or three goals were our mistakes and in the Championship two or three mistakes are going to cost us.”

Boro boss Neil Warnock was forced to name a weakened side for the Teessiders’ FA Cup match at Brentford last time out after a number of his players tested positive for Covid-19.

Those players could return to action this weekend after completing their ten-day isolation period, yet it’s still unclear who will be available for the hosts.

Karanka, though, is keen to focus on what his side can do rather than worrying about the opposition.

“I think their style is the same, they can change shape but as I always say it’s about us,” Karanka added.

“It’s about our attitude, our intensity and our commitment because we have shown everybody if we are committed and have a good attitude we can win every game in the league.”

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