Aitor Karanka pledges his future to Middlesbrough no matter what happens in the promotion race

Boro’s automatic promotion hopes will be decided tomorrow afternoon, with a win or draw against third-placed Brighton guaranteeing a place in the Premier League. Lose, however, and the Teessiders will be forced to negotiate the play-offs for a second successive season.

Karanka has been an integral part of the promotion push, but despite having signed a four-year contract last summer, the season will end with the Spaniard’s future uncertain.

The events that led to his dramatic training-ground departure ahead of March’s game at Charlton have not been forgotten, and a number of weekend reports suggested Boro had sounded out Nigel Pearson as a potential replacement should Karanka leave his position this summer.

Karanka has consistently refused to elaborate on the disagreement that resulted in him missing the trip to the Valley, but as he prepares for what could be the biggest moment of his managerial career, he has assured Middlesbrough fans he has no intention of walking away from his position as head coach.

“I don’t like to say what will happen if this or that, but the best way to answer those questions is to say that I have three more years on my contract,” said Karanka, who has repeatedly been linked with a possible return to his homeland to take over at Valencia. “Just saying that is enough.”

Having remained to oversee the rebuilding job that followed last season’s play-off final defeat to Norwich City, Karanka will not be fazed should Boro once again miss out on promotion. However, having moved to England with a burning desire to lead the Teessiders into the Premier League, the three-time Champions League winner is understandably desperate to avoid a repeat of last year’s Wembley heartbreak.

While tomorrow’s game is part of the regular league programme, there are obvious comparisons to a play-off final with only one of the two participants able to make it to the top-flight.

Twelve months ago, Boro wilted in the Wembley spotlight, conceding two early goals as they froze in the opening quarter-of-an-hour. Their preparations went awry, with a delayed arrival at Wembley contributing to a sense of unfamiliarity that ultimately proved their undoing.

This time around, Karanka has been determined to keep things as normal as possible, a stance that has been helped by the fact that the game will be staged at the Riverside rather than at the opposite end of the country.

The club’s usual weekly routine has not been interrupted, with Karanka determined to ensure his players remain as comfortable as possible despite tomorrow’s game being worth around £170m to the winners once future guaranteed payments are taken into account.

“It is different because Wembley was Wembley,” he said. “It was the first time there for everybody, and it is not the same to play in front of 90,000 people as it is to play at home in front of 32,000 when all of them are your crowd.

“After that, this is also a league game. It is the last one, but we have everything in our hands and we have had a week to prepare for the game. The final was different because it was the final. I learned from that game for sure, and the players who were here last season learned too.”

The experience gained from last season’s play-off defeat could be crucial tomorrow. Whereas Norwich went into last May’s decider with a major advantage in terms of their players’ exposure to big occasions, this time it is Boro who have been there and done it while the Brighton squad have little or no experience on the big stage.

Avoiding a Wembley hangover was always going to be one of the Teessiders’ biggest challenges this season, and with seven members of the side that started at Wembley likely to be lining up tomorrow, Karanka has been impressed with his players’ collective resolve.

“My first week here after the summer, especially with the players who had been at Wembley, was important,” he said. “It was a big concern because people had told me that the following season after you have lost in the play-offs is always difficult, but nobody even said anything about the final.

“They were all thinking about the future, and thinking about this season. The players who have arrived are doing really well, and the changing room is really, really strong. For that reason, I think this season has been better for us. We have a better squad and we are more mature.”

Karanka’s only selection dilemma revolves around George Friend, who is winning his battle to recover from the hamstring injury that has kept him out of the last two games.

“I don’t know how he (Friend) is at the moment, but I am positive,” said the head coach. “He is an important player for us so I hope he can be ready. He is back in training, but he is not 100 per cent.

“He is more than a player for us. He can play better or worse, but he always transmits his attitude to his team-mates and the crowd, and for that reason he is important. If he can’t play, then Ritchie (de Laet) has played a lot of games this season and I am really pleased with him.”