HIS friendship with Jose Mourinho has already helped him improve Middlesbrough’s squad this season – now Aitor Karanka has called on the Chelsea boss to secure a state-of-the-art training base ahead of tomorrow’s game with Birmingham City.

Having remained in London following Sunday’s FA Cup fifth-round defeat at Arsenal, Middlesbrough’s players are training at Chelsea’s Cobham complex ahead of their trip to St Andrew’s.

Mindful of the physical and mental demands involved in a run of seven matches in 21 days, Karanka has opted for a break from the usual routine, which would have involved travelling back from the Emirates on Sunday evening before heading to the Midlands tomorrow.

Instead, his players remained in the capital on Sunday night, with training sessions scheduled for yesterday and today at Chelsea’s Surrey base.

Mourinho’s side are currently in France preparing for this evening’s Champions League knockout tie with Paris St Germain, and their schedule created an opening for Middlesbrough’s players to use the facilities at Cobham, a £20m facility widely revered as one of the leading football centres in the country.

It is not unusual for clubs to use a rival’s training base in preparation for matches – Middlesbrough have hosted a number of teams from the Premier League and Football League at Rockliffe Park in recent years ahead of matches in the North-East – but there won’t be too many sides in the Championship enjoying the standard of facilities that Middlesbrough’s players will be exposed to this week.

The move underlines the enduring importance of Karanka’s links with Mourinho, his former mentor at Real Madrid, but also highlights the way in which the Boro head coach is leaving no stone unturned as he attempts to keep his side in the automatic promotion places at the top of the Championship.

With Derby taking on Rotherham United tonight, Boro could kick off against Birmingham in third place, but Bournemouth’s failure to beat Huddersfield Town at the weekend means they will be guaranteed a three-point cushion to the play-off places if they can claim a ninth away win of the season tomorrow.

Sunday’s failure to land a blow on Arsenal was a disappointment, but the bigger picture was always going to revolve around the push for promotion, and there is a collective determination to ensure any lingering unhappiness at Boro’s FA Cup exit does not spill over into a tricky assignment with a Birmingham side that have lost just four of their last 18 games in all competitions.

“At the moment, everyone is down, but we were not expected to win by many fans,” said Lee Tomlin. “Maybe there were a few who did expect us to win because of what we did at Man City, but for me it has gone now, we have to let it go and concentrate on Wednesday.

“It’s a quick turnaround and that might be a good thing. We will see after Wednesday because Birmingham have turned it around under Gary Rowett.

“We have to just go there and focus on us. It was nice to hear the fans at the end of the game at Arsenal still singing about promotion, but there’s still a long way to go. We could end up third or fourth if we don’t stay focused.”

Tomlin was the star of the show as Middlesbrough won at Manchester City in the FA Cup fourth round, but January’s Championship Player of the Month admits his side did not really come close to repeating their heroics at the Emirates.

“The way Arsenal play football was unbelievable,” he said. “It was at a different level. Football is strange - you can see Man City against Arsenal and see a City win, then you see us lose to Arsenal after beating Man City.

“That’s football, but it’s all good experience and just makes us hungrier to be in the Premier League next season.”