Aitor Karanka insists Middlesbrough must beat 'direct opponents' Leicester
Sunday 1 January 2017 12:12, UK
Aitor Karanka has billed Middlesbrough's clash with Leicester, live on Sky Sports, as "the most important game" of the season.
Premier League champions Leicester have not enjoyed a successful 2016/17 campaign and enter the new year in 15th, just two points above Boro.
Karanka thinks winning matches like this is vital if his side are to retain their top-flight status.
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"Now is the most important game in the season because it is the next one and it is against a direct opponent," said the Boro boss, who saw his side give Manchester United a major scare on Saturday.
"All this season, these are the kind of games we have to win.
"We are playing at home and always I say if we are playing this way we will win games against our opponents, like we did against Swansea, against Hull, against Bournemouth.
"We won them and that is the way to keep going. We know if we play with less intensity than we did [against United] we have problems, so we need to play with at least the same intensity.
"I'm pleased with the way we competed and we will win games against teams who are playing to stay in the Premier League."
In the reverse fixture at the end of November, Boro looked set for the three points, only for Leicester to snatch a late equaliser from the spot.
"We forgot they had won the league," said Karanka. "We were much better than them in the game and we keep going and play in the same way.
"We need to analyse Leicester again and their players. They cannot play with Jamie Vardy [suspended] so they will be different to how they were in Leicester.
"I don't have a lot of time but time enough to prepare."
