Karanka hopes win over West Ham spurs Boro revival
(Reuters) - Manager Aitor Karanka is hoping history repeats itself when his Middlesbrough team host West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday, with a positive result helping to spur his side away from the relegation zone.
Middlesbrough are in 16th place and without a win in their last four league outings, but Karanka said they were confident of picking up points against a West Ham team that have won four of their last six games to rise to 12th in the table.
"We are ready for West Ham as we're playing at home," the manager told a news conference on Thursday.
"It's an important game because if we win we can open a big gap at the bottom, but it's a tough league and I'm sure we will be fighting until the end."
Middlesbrough went a goal up when the teams met in the reverse fixture at the London Stadium back in October, only to be pegged back by a Dimitri Payet goal as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Still, the result seemed to imbue Karanka's promoted side with the belief that they could compete in the top flight, and although they lost to Watford the following weekend, they soon hit a purple patch.
Away draws at Arsenal, Manchester City and Leicester City along with home wins over Bournemouth and Hull City lifted Boro to 13th in the standings by the start of December, with their only league defeat in that period coming against leaders Chelsea.
"The game we played against (West Ham) in London was the game that changed everything," Karanka added.
"We arrived after losing against (Totteham Hotspur) and the reaction of the players to that game was really good. From that day we've improved and I hope we can continue to improve."
The Spaniard has made three signings so far in the January transfer window, bringing in forwards Mikael Soisalo, Rudy Gestede and Patrick Bamford, and revealed he was still in the market for a wide player.
"I said always the main position I want to strengthen is the wings as the only quick player we have is Adama (Traore)," Karanka added. "I want to bring another but we have two weeks.
"The club is working well behind the scenes... They know the player I like and when he's here it will be perfect."
(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)