Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka has heaped praise on his side after they kept their automatic promotion hopes alive with a vital win at promotion rivals Norwich.

Alexander Tettey put through his own net early on to give Boro a 1-0 win, with a stellar defensive performance then leaving the in-form Canaries with no shots on target in the second half - despite an additional seven minutes of stoppage time.

“This was an amazing performance against a team who I think are a Premier League team," Karanka beamed.

“I said before the game that Norwich have Premier League players so nobody can be more proud of the players than I am. All the team was brilliant.

“We started really well, we knew we had to be better than we were in the games at Bournemouth and Watford [where Boro lost on both occasions] and we even had chances to score a second goal.

“They put us under pressure but I don't recall them creating too many clear cut chances.”

With two games still to play in the hunt for a top-two finish, Boro's fate is still out of their own hands as they rely on Bournemouth or Watford to drop points.

“We haven't done anything yet,” Karanka warned. “We are top at the moment but we could be second or third on Saturday night.

“So we have to keep going until the end but I just want to say again everything this team does is amazing,”

Karanka, who worked as José Mourinho's second-in-command during his time at Real Madrid, was also eager to praise much-loved chairman Steve Gibson.

With the Teessiders pre-tax losses for the year announced at £20.4million, Middlesbrough-born Gibson has footed most of the bill - and Karanka has repeated his admiration and respect for the 57-year-old throughout the season.

“For me he is the best,” he said.

“I don’t know how many years I am going to be a manager but I am sure that I am not going to get another chairman like Steve, he is the first (I have worked for) and I know it is going to be difficult to get somebody like him.

“The money, the support has been there, not just for 17 months, for almost 30 years at Middlesbrough.

“So if I want promotion it is for the players, because they are working every day, but also for Steve, because he deserves to be in the Premier League, he deserves to get it."

Karanka also added that, although a return to the Premier League this season would be "perfect", his original briefing upon his arrival at the club was to deliver promotion by the summer of 2016.

“If we can get it this year it will be perfect but if it has to be another season then so be it."

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Sam France
Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Features Editor at VAVEL UK, part of the VAVEL team 2014-2018.