By Jonathan Barber

MIDDLESBROUGH head coach Aitor Karanka caused controversy by suggesting Middlesbrough fans have a ‘small memory’ following last Friday’s victory over Queens Park Rangers and, whether you agree with him or not, the number of fans visiting the Riverside Stadium has improved drastically under the Spaniard.

With the help of a boost in season-ticket sales, Riverside Stadium attendance figures this season are at a very healthy average of just over 22,000 - the fourth best in the Championship behind only Leeds United, Brighton and Derby County.

This also comes without ever dropping below the 20,000 mark in all nine home games despite some frustrating performances such as Friday’s laboured display against QPR. And that is without even considering the travelling support, with a further sell-out allocation pencilled in at Huddersfield on Saturday afternoon.

Having spent over £15m on new signings in the summer, Boro are now a prized scalp in the Championship and visiting teams appear happy to come to the Riverside and play for a point which has resulted in some drab home games this season, the last-gasp win over QPR certainly falling in to this category.

In the aftermath of the game, former QPR boss Ian Holloway claimed he had ‘never seen a crowd not help their team as much’ and, despite being edgy at times this season, fans have certainly stuck with the team in terms of the number of people continuing to go to home matches.

This is in stark contrast towards the end of Tony Mowbray’s reign in 2013 when numbers dropped to just 12,793 for a home game against Huddersfield as Boro languished at the wrong end of the Championship table.

After a bumper crowd for Karanka’s first home game in charge, attendances continued to linger around the 15,000 mark for the 2013/2014 season and as few as 13,965 watched a 2-0 victory over Ipswich in March 2014.

In fact in the Spaniard’s first half-season in charge, only three home games saw an attendance of over 20,000 and the last of those came in February 2014 for a game against Leeds which had a bit of local rivalry at stake.

Even during the roller-coaster ride of 2014/2015, average attendances were far lower than they are so far this campaign. After nine games the average home gate was just 17,216 despite Middlesbrough flying high at the top of the table, compared to 22,142 after nine home outings this campaign.

There were huge crowds for games against Nottingham Forest, Brighton and Brentford last season but large crowds were not occurring on the consistent basis seen this campaign.

Even if Boro have been frustrated by opponents' negative tactics this season, each attendance has been bigger than what was managed for top-of-the-table battles with Derby and Ipswich last season. This is despite Karanka’s side only playing one team from the top half of the table so far.

Expectations have never been higher on Teesside and with big games coming up against Birmingham and Burnley in the Championship promotion race and also Everton in the Capital One Cup, attendances can only be expected to increase.