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Aitor Karanka believes the Boro fans should not be concerned about the club’s current position.

Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday means Boro have lost two games out of three and have scored just two goals in their last five fixtures but are still second in the Championship table.

Asked if the supporters should be worried about the losses and lack of goals, Karanka said: “I can’t imagine anyone is concerned or worried because the club was two points above the relegation zone 15 months ago.

“I am very happy because I came here 15 months ago two points above the relegation position and now we are second in the table so I don’t know why someone would be concerned?”

That’s not to say Karanka was happy with Boro’s display at Hillsborough. Wednesday took the lead early in the second half through a controversial penalty which was awarded when Kenneth Omeruo was adjudged to have handled the ball.

Atdhe Nuhiu converted the spotkick and the hosts added a second when Will Keane headed home from close range two minutes later.

Karanka was scathing in his assessment of Boro’s display. He pulled no punches in his post match interviews and was equally critical of himself, admitting he made mistakes.

Ahead of kick-off, the Boro boss made five changes from the side that started the 1-0 victory over Bolton and also switched to a 3-5-2 formation.

“It was worse than Bolton,” he said. “I said after Bolton that was the worst performance but now this is the worst performance of the season.

“It was awful, I don’t have words to explain what happened but we know have a game on Tuesday we have to learn from this game very quickly.

“I have to learn a lot of things from the last two games and we have to keep going.

“I made mistakes and we have lost the game and that performance was very, very bad. We have lost three points - I came here to win the game and three points.

“I can’t say what the mistakes were but they were my mistakes and I have to learn from the mistakes and improve for the following games.”

Karanka was naturally quizzed on the wisdom of making five changes to a winning team and on his formation switch.

“I thought the squad was the best to play here,” he answered. “Against Blackpool I made six changes and we won the game so I don’t think about how many changes.

“Maybe yes about the quality of some of them but that is now in the past and I have to think about the future.”

Boro were denied an early penalty when Albert Adomah appeared to be tripped inside the box by Claude Dielna.

With Wednesday later winning a spot-kick, Karanka was quick to point out that his side also suffered rough justice in the same fixture last year when a Jacob Butterfield shot crossed the line but wasn’t awarded.

“It’s curious,” said the head coach. “I don’t know what happens here but last season it was the same. Last season we scored a goal but the linesman didn’t see it.

“They see the bad things that we might do but don’t see when bad things happen against us.”

There was an flashpoint in the 65th minute when Grant Leadbitter and Jose Semedo clashed with the Boro player appearing to claim he’d been spat at but both managers later said they didn’t see the incident.

Karanka, meanwhile, refused to use the state of the Hillsborough pitch as an excuse for Boro’s poor display.

“The pitch is not in a good condition but I said before Blackpool game that if we had lost the game I would not have blamed the pitch and I don’t want to make excuses today,” he said.