Saturday 15 October 2016 13:02, UK
Middlesbrough head coach Aitor Karanka has told Alvaro Negredo to come out fighting as he attempts to return to goalscoring form against Watford, live on Sky Sports.
The Spanish striker, who moved to the Riverside on a season-long loan from Valencia over the summer, announced his return to Premier League football with a goal in the 1-1 draw with Stoke on the opening day of the season.
Negredo has not scored since, although he did play a key role in keeper Maarten Stekelenburg's own goal in the 3-1 defeat at Everton last month.
The 31-year-old lost his place in the team to Jordan Rhodes for the trip to West Ham before the international break and Karanka is keen to help a player who cost Manchester City £20m when they signed him from Sevilla in July 2013 and Valencia just £1m less two years later.
"I am here to try to take that pressure off. I knew for him, it was going to be difficult," said Karanka.
"He started really well, but sometimes it's normal when you start really well and you feel really, really confident, you start to be a little bit more relaxed and you lose your position.
"For that reason, he has to fight. He is fighting a lot on the training ground because he failed against West Ham, but at this club, nobody is bigger than the team.
"He is learning because it's important for everybody to know that the main thing here is the team.
"But playing his best, I can compare him with [Christian] Benteke or [Romelu] Lukaku and the better strikers in the league."
Watch Middlesbrough v Watford in the first part of a Super Sunday double bill. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 HD at 12:30pm.
