Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka vowed to continue playing __with a lone striker after Saturday’s defeat at Stoke.
Boro were beaten 2-0 courtesy of a double from Marko Arnautovic and Karanka’s men are now winless in 10 league matches and have failed to score in their last four,.
They dropped into the relegation zone __with Crystal Palace moving up to 17th and fears of a relegation are real.
Again Boro looked short of firepower – they are the lowest scorers in the division, with a tally of just 19 for the season and in truth they looked unlikely to add to that at Stoke.
There was a disallowed goal for Ben Gibson in the second half but they were well beaten on the day and Karanka’s message was “keep believing”.
“In this kind of moment we need to be positive. We have to know we have done good things so far,” Karanka told the BBC.
“We have to keep believing in this group of players. Until the last day we will keep fighting.
“We’ve played since I have been in here with one striker. We train not one way but today was a normal decision.
“We are in the bottom three and we need to work harder to leave those positions.”
Karanka’s future at the club has split the fans and asked if he was concerned about his job at The Riverside, Karanka replied: “I can’t be concerned about things not under my control.”