AITOR Karanka has paid tribute to perhaps the most valuable asset in his coaching armoury at Middlesbrough, but it's more a case of what not who the Spaniard singled out for glowing praise.

The Championship leaders can set a record for the second tier of English football by keeping a tenth consecutive league clean sheet at managerless Bristol City today.

It's 817 minutes and counting since Tom Huddlestone completed the scoring in Hull City's convincing 3-0 victory over Karanka's side at the KC Stadium at the outset of November.

Since then QPR, Huddersfield, Ipswich, Birmingham, Burnley, Brighton, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby and Brentford have all attempted unsuccessfully to find a way past goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos in the Championship.

In all, eight of those nine clean sheets have paved the way for victory, with Gary Rowett's Blues the only side in that sequence to earn a point.

Boro have gone from a team having their promotion credentials questioned after their humbling by Steve Bruce's side, to one that sits comfortably five points clear at the summit, in what has been an emphatic answer to their doubters.

Karanka puts the success, not just for his rearguard but for each department of his impressively functioning team, down to meticulous planning, with the use of video analysis key in helping the Boro boss to get his message across.

That's especially so during the current hectic spell of 15 games in a little over ten weeks, which leaves opportunities to work on the training ground at a premium at this time of year.

"As a player, I always liked as much information as possible as I could get on the opposition," Karanka said. "These days, it's a lot easier to provide that kind of data.

"We can make sure the players go onto the pitch knowing almost everything about the other side and the players they will come up against. It's not about giving them what you'd call homework, it's just that we try to help them arrive at the game with the most information possible, and plans on how can we attack the other side and how we can defend.

"Personally I spend a lot of time watching DVDs of the teams we're about to play. For me it's the key."

The long hours of groundwork behind the scenes has clearly paid off as the club edge ever nearer to ending a seven-year top flight exile. The emphasis on DVD work also helps with the limited timescales available to Karanka and his coaching staff in a Championship renowned for the relentless nature of its fixtures over the course of a nine-month campaign.

Karanka, who will assess the fitness of injured defender Ben Gibson before naming his side at Ashton Gate, added: "We have to operate in different ways because we don't have a lot of time to work on the training pitch.

“The videos make it easier in terms of getting your message across quickly. As a coach, you have to mix the two but it's a vital tool, not just in organising the defence but for all aspects of team and individual play."

Bristol City sacked manager Steve Cotterill on Thursday, eight months after the former Sunderland coach led them to the League One title. The 51-year-old paid the price for a run of one victory in 12 games that leaves the Robins in the relegation zone, two points adrift of safety.

Speaking before Cotterill's departure, Karanka added: "Bristol are the only team to beat us at home in the league this season, so for me this game will be harder than the one against Brentford on Tuesday. They're in a bit of a false position in the table and it's a concern going down there because for me they are a good side. It will be a lot harder test than the league standings suggest."