AITOR KARANKA was touched by the fantastic reception he got from Middlesbrough fans when he made his first return to the Riverside Stadium today – even if he ended up losing the game as Nottingham Forest manager.

Karanka, whose Forest side lost 2-0 this afternoon courtesy of Daniel Ayala and Stewart Downing’s goals, left Boro in March last year after a run of poor results in the Premier League that saw them drop into the bottom three.

His exit followed weeks of frustration when there were claims of dressing room splits and more was made of any disagreements he had with players.

But Karanka insists he will never forget his time with the club and that he was hopeful he would get a nice reception from the home fans having had a largely successful time in charge on Teesside.

Karanka said: “It was really nice and it has been a difficult week to prepare everything, a lot of good memories and I did not have any doubt that we love each other because when I came here I felt a really hungry club and when I left, it was a club in the Premier League and everyone was enjoying the Premier League.

“I was in an odd place, especially with people saying I had problems with the players, with the crowd and the board.

“The first person to send me message yesterday before I came here was the chairman (Steve Gibson) and it was a nice reception from the fans and all the players that showed everybody how much we love each other.

“Now I am at Forest and trying to do the same because this club has a lot of history and I would like to repeat what I did here in the following years at Forest.”

Middlesbrough manager Tony Pulis would have preferred for his team to have put the game completely out of sight in the second half, having had to endure a pretty tame period when Forest threatened to make something of it.

Middlesbrough wasted numerous chances late on, when Britt Assombalonga’s introduction made an impact even though he missed a few, but they were nowhere near as dangerous as Pulis would have preferred.

In the end he was thankful Downing’s second goal of the season in the 31st minute followed on from Ayala’s fine opener in the seventh minute.

Pulis said: "I was pleased with the first half, I thought we played really well with the movement of the ball and the position we got into and the opportunities and chances, but the one disappointing thing was that half-time came because it stopped the momentum which sometimes happens.

“They had nothing to fear in the second-half or worry about and they looked more relaxed on the ball but we still had the best opportunities in the second half.

“There are five games to go. We spend far too much time in this country worrying about everyone else and what they are doing instead of concentrating on your own lives and I can only affect what happens here and that is what I have told the players.

“We just had have to focus on ourselves and if it goes for us brilliant, if it doesn’t, we have to make sure we were properly prepared.

“The important thing is we remain focused and do our best and the players understand that.

“Aitor deserves the plaudits. He did fantastic job to get them promoted and they showed that respect to him, which is fantastic.”