With inputs from Mourinho, Middlesbrough coach hopes to upset Manchester City

Karanka, a former assistant to Mourinho during Real Madrid days, remain close and exchange advice when one is playing a team in the other’s division.

Aitor Karanka has brought Middlesbrough to the brink of the Premier League. Ker Robertson / Getty Images

When Aitor Karanka was appointed manager of Middlesbrough in November 2013, it seemed a strange choice.

It was difficult to see what a former Uefa Champions League winner with Real Madrid had in common with a club in one of England’s traditional industrial heartlands.

The contrast to the man he replaced, the former Middlesbrough defender Tony Mowbray, could hardly have been greater.

But Karanka, who had been Jose Mourinho’s assistant at Real Madrid, settled quickly.

Middlesbrough were 16th when he took over and, although he lifted them only to 12th in the table, they won six of their last eight games of the season.

The improvement has continued this season and, despite an awkward start in which they lost three of their opening five games, Middlesbrough lie second in the Championship, with a return to the Premier League after six years away achievable.

An away tie at Manchester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup today gives them a chance to see just how far they need to progress if they are promoted.

Karanka and Mourinho remain close and exchange advice when one is playing a team in the other’s division.

“I speak with Jose every single week,” Karanka said. “Jose needed to know more from me, when he played against Watford and the others, than I need to know things from him about City in return.

“We’ve now got a big chance in the league and cup. When the draw was made I thought, ‘brilliant, we can now face one of the best squads in the world’.”

City, after their run of nine wins in 11 games, seem to have regressed again since the turn of the year.

Sergio Aguero is back from injury but still not at his best, while Yaya Toure is away at the African Cup of Nations.

There is also a sense that they can be complacent, particularly against less-vaunted sides – something seen in the way they allowed Burnley to come from 2-0 down against them to draw 2-2, or in last season’s FA Cup exit against Wigan Athletic.

Middlesbrough proved against Liverpool in the League Cup this season – when they were beaten only after an epic penalty shootout – that they are not cowed by Premier League opposition.

Patrick Bamford, on loan from Chelsea, is probably the key figure. He has scored nine goals this season, including the late penalty at Anfield that took that tie to a shootout.

With Middlesbrough likely to sit deep and look to frustrate City, his quality on the ball in initiating counter-attacks will be vital to Middlesbrough’s attacking ambitions.

Grant Leadbitter, the captain, who has Premier League experience with Sunderland, has also had a fine season, contributing 10 goals – seven of them penalties – and driving forward from midfield. His role is likely to be more defensive today but, again, his surges on the break could be vital.

It would be wrong to think Middlesbrough go into the tie with expectation, but it is a sign of how far they have come under Karanka that the prospect of them upsetting City does not seem fantastical.

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