AITOR KARANKA thinks he has to take the blame after watching Middlesbrough’s seven-match unbeaten run come to an end in frustrating fashion at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday night.

The Boro boss was disappointed with the manner in which his team failed to prevent Wolves from climbing up to fourth and level on points with them at Molineux, where they looked a shadow of the sort of side which has put them in contention for a top two spot.

A victory at Wolves would have seen Middlesbrough climb up to second ahead of Saturday’s visit of the current occupants of that spot, Watford, to the Riverside Stadium.

Karanka is determined to see his players return to their best against the Hornets, suggesting that he was the man responsible for last night’s 2-0 defeat to Wolves.

The Spaniard said: “The person who made the first mistake was me. I didn’t choose the right players to play. I am the first person who made a mistake and after that we dint play the way we are used to playing, we didn’t play with the intensity we have been.

“We did not have that intensity which we normally see from my players. I know what mistakes I made but I am not going to say. I need to learn every single game and we have another on Saturday. I always take conclusions from games. I have to make sure I get the right players on Saturday.”

Middlesbrough will be forced in to at least one change against Watford after Grant Leadbitter collected his fifth yellow card of the season. He now faces a one-match ban. Adam Clayton, who missed last night with a head injury sustained at Brighton, will be assessed and could return.

Karanka is also likely to change things further forward again, with Patrick Bamford and Jelle Vossen likely to make way for the rested Lee Tomlin and Kike again – although he was giving nothing away.

But he was annoyed with the way his team failed to deal with Wolves, who pressed high up the pitch throughout the game and could have had more than the two goals they scored.

Bakary Sako put Wolves ahead from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute after Nouha Dicko had been pushed to the floor by George Friend in the area. Dicko then added the second when he cut inside Daniel Ayala and Ryan Fredericks before powering in the finish 17 minutes before the end.

Karanka said: “I’m disappointed - you can lose when the other team is better than you and Wolves were – because we lost in the way that we knew they would be strong. We told the players how difficult and strong Dicko and Sako were, we showed them videos of them and yet the goals came from them. That’s why I am disappointed. We should have dealt with them better.”

Watford are second in the Championship, two points ahead of Middlesbrough, ahead of Saturday’s match-up at the Riverside.

Karanka said: “It’s another game, so it is nice to be able to have a game so soon to try to recover the points. Watford are a very good team and it will be difficult. We have to try to find the sort of intensity which we normally play with and do better than we did tonight.”

Former Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray, meanwhile, is ready to step back in to management a year after leaving the club.

It is 12 months since he was sacked by chairman Steve Gibson and he has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Lee Clark at Birmingham.

Mowbray said: "I'm ready to get back to work but you have to make sure it's the right job. If you choose the wrong one you could be out of work again in six months or a year. I need to have a look at the situation.

"I have watched a lot of the Championship as I look to get back in the frame, but there are a lot of good experienced managers in the frame.”