AITOR KARANKA will not abandon his defensive philosophy despite the fact Middlesbrough have scored fewer goals than their promotion rivals.

Boro’s 50 goals this term is the fewest out of the teams in the top six with the Teessiders some way behind the likes of Derby, Bournemouth, Norwich and Watford in the scoring charts.

That hasn’t stopped Karanka’s men rising to second in the table with a three-point gap to Ipswich in third, but their previous two games have exposed problems in front of goal.

Against Leeds, Boro had 27 shots on goal but failed to score while Tuesday night’s win over Bolton Wanderers was further evidence of their inability to put games to bed.

With only six points separating the top six goal difference could play a part in deciding final positions at the end of the campaign, but Karanka isn’t worried.

“My concern would be if we were seventh or tenth in the table, but when you are second in the table and the balance between the goals that you are scoring and the goals that you are conceding is good, then I’m not concerned,” said the head coach, who takes his side to Sheffield Wednesday today.

“We are second in the table and the balance is good. All the players are committed with their defensive actions and we have quality up front to score goals.

“I would like to have ten or 15 more goals and six more points, but the balance is good and the confidence in the squad is good.”

While they have scored the fewest goals in the top six, Boro have conceded the fewest. Only Chelsea and Shrewsbury have matched the Teessiders’ defensive record in the top four divisions and although he admitted his side need to score more goals, Karanka insisted he isn’t about to abandon his philosophy.

He said: “In Spain we say, ‘to build a house you must start with the floor’.

“I like to start without conceding goals and then when we have quality up front to score we are going to win a lot of games.

“It’s very important for me that we don’t concede goals.”

Karanka called on his attacking players to cut out their mistakes in front of goal after the Bolton win, but while he wants to see more from them the Boro head coach insisted he would be more worried if they weren’t creating chances.

This afternoon’s trip to Hillsborough presents Middlesbrough with an opportunity to put more daylight between themselves at the play-off places and the head coach has urged his players to more positive around the opposition’s penalty box.

“I don’t think we need to take any more risks,” Karanka said. “I would be concerned if we were finishing games and we hadn’t created chances.

“Against Bolton we created four or five clear chances. We finished the game with many chances. Against Leeds I lost count of the chances we had.

“I don’t think it’s a concern that we finished the game and only scored one goal, because we won the game, but if we had created four or five every single game and weren’t winning it would be a concern.

“Sometimes it’s the pressure. For example in the last game we could have had two or three shots from outside the box, but the players decided to pass the ball instead of shoot.

“Sometimes it’s their moment and it is their responsibility, but I’m not concerned about the number of goals.”

While Karanka’s side are still in the title mix, there is already some silverware heading back to the Riverside Stadium.

Craig Liddle’s Under-18s were crowned Barclays U18 League Northern Division champions after nearest rivals Manchester United lost this week.

It means Boro’s young guns progress to the next stage of the season where the top four teams from the Northern Division will be joined by the top four from the Southern Division.

“They’re a focused group and the way they have conducted themselves on the pitch has been great,” Liddle said.

“When you think of the investment made by Manchester City, Man Utd, Liverpool, Everton and Blackburn, we can be really proud of our achievements.

“We’re grateful for the investment we have here, but we’re talking about finishing in front of Premier League clubs here with all the resources they have.

“Obviously at this level it’s about developing them as players and the long-term aim is to get them in the first team.

“But at this moment in time, to win the league is a fantastic achievement for them.”