Get the latest Boro stories straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter Enter your email Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Aitor Karanka has issued a rallying cry on the eve of Boro’s Premier League opener - “let’s keep the dream going!”

After a seven-year absence from the top-flight, Boro are finally set to retake their seat at football’s top table.

Boro kick-off the new campaign at a sell-out Riverside tomorrow as Stoke City make the trip to Teesside.

Karanka insists Boro are ready for the challenge ahead - and says the Premier League won’t throw up any surprises to him.

“The aim is for us to stay in the Premier League, to build the foundations and to be here long-term,” Karanka said.

“We’ve worked really hard to get here. For everybody it’s been a dream - so imagine what it’s been like for me.

“We need to keep the dream going. Everyone is excited - the people on the streets - they’re thinking about the game on Saturday. The club is ready for this.”

Last summer, Karanka managed to lift Boro back off the canvas ahead of another 46-game Championship slog.

But everything has now changed after promotion, says Karanka, as he prepares to share the touchline with the likes of Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp.

“Last season we started (the Championship) again after losing a final. It was tough to arrive into my office and to take all the games off the wall, and put another 46 games on the wall.

“But now it’s different. Everything has changed - the emotions, the players, the people on the street. Everything.

“Whether I could do it all again is a question I’ll never know. I didn’t want to ask myself what may have happened if we didn’t get promotion last season.

“The players have given me everything and now we’re in the Premier League. It’s a different challenge as I don’t need to show anybody that I’m a good coach.

“I’ve done my job, but I have to keep learning as the Premier League is the best league in the world. Now, Middlesbrough are in that league.”

Karanka has plenty of close friends in the top division, with his former Real Madrid partner-in-crime Jose Mourinho now at Manchester United and Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham.

But Karanka believes he’ll need less advice in the top-flight this season than he received in the Championship last time out.

“Everybody knows the Premier League,” he added.

“Maybe I needed to know a lot of things when I came to the Championship, but I don’t think I’ll find surprises in the Premier League.”