GEORGE FRIEND has responded to the set-back of losing for the first time since August by admitting that Middlesbrough are targeting a top two spot in the promotion race this season.

While it is common place for managers to play down a team’s chances of going up, Boro boss Aitor Karanka is more than happy to set such high goals for his players after forming one of the strongest squads in the Championship.

Yet having a decent pool of players to call on could not prevent defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night, when Middlesbrough were fortunate to be on the wrong end of a 2-0 scoreline.

Given the level of performances during a seven-match unbeaten run dating back to September, the Wolves display frustrated the manager and the players.

But Friend, knowing that Middlesbrough will still climb up in to second place by defeating Watford on Saturday at the Riverside Stadium, thinks the Teessiders can bounce back in exactly the right manner after being bullied in to defeat at Molineux.

“I think everybody looks at the Championship and looks up at the play-offs, top spot, because everybody beats everyone in this division so we should be looking high,” said Friend. “Why should we not be aiming for those positions?

“You can’t say we will definitely get those positions, but the manager sets high standards so hopefully we can show those high standards on the pitch and we will get to where we want to.”

The quality Middlesbrough had shown during their unbeaten run has encouraged fans to believe that a return to the Premier League is a strong possibility this season.

Rising expectations are something the squad has to deal with but the players like it. Friend said: “We all know it is early days, but it’s good to be up and around it. You need to make sure you keep runs going though.

“This league does chop and change, you can either be up or down. Once you have a good run, seven or eight games, you can make a real impact on the league.

“We need to take advantage of being at home on Saturday; hopefully we will have a big crowd to intimidate Watford. They are a tough challenge, but every game is. We found that out on Tuesday at Wolves.”

Middlesbrough were never going to remain unbeaten for the rest of the season, so there will be no over-reaction to a defeat at Wolves. There will, however, be a determination to improve and try to avoid a repeat of the disappointing display which cost them.

“You can’t get too high when you win or too low when you lose,” said Friend. “We were not getting too far ahead of ourselves. We turned out on Tuesday and it didn’t happen for us. They wanted it more than us. We knew it would be tough at Molineux but we can start a new run on Saturday.

“We are better off on these winning runs, but if you can take what you can from a loss, then get back to winning again, not culminate too many losses, we will be right up there.

“We have a good enough squad, you saw the players who came on at Wolves. We will have a team out on Saturday which is strong; we all know we do every game. We have to keep collecting points.”

One change Karanka has to make is replacing the suspended Grant Leadbitter, who collected his fifth yellow card at Wolves. Adam Clayton should be fit to return after a head problem kept him out of the midweek game. There is also likely to be changes further forward, with Kike and Lee Tomlin likely to come back in.

Friend, who turned 27 on Sunday, is keen for Middlesbrough to put Tuesday’s off-day to one side and build again. He said: “We were not good enough right until the end. We started poorly. They were right at us and we couldn’t deal with that for some reason.

“I think we are a better side than Wolves are but we couldn’t sort it out. It was an uncharacteristic performance from us. There were good parts but I am struggling to remember lots of them.

“I would have loved to go back to Molineux and get three points. But it is a wake-up call to us after a good run. We need to make changes for the next game because that was not good enough.”