STEVE GIBSON has followed up promotion by confirming that Aitor Karanka will remain in charge, and he will give the head coach the financial backing to make Middlesbrough competitive in the Premier League next season.

The Riverside Stadium was rocking on Saturday afternoon when Karanka and his players celebrated a return to the top tier of English football for the first time since 2009.

An open-top bus parade is being planned for later this week and that is likely to be followed by a civic reception for the town’s sporting heroes.

There had been speculation Karanka might leave at the end of the season but The Northern Echo understands that Gibson wants the Spaniard to work his magic in the top-flight after achieving his targets.

Middlesbrough wanted to go up automatically after the play-off heartbreak of 12 months ago at Wembley and they did just that by claiming the point that mattered against Brighton in Saturday’s showdown.

Gibson said: “What we set our sights on this year was getting promotion and we’ll enjoy the next couple of days. We’ve got to talk internally and plan what we need to make us stronger.

“We’ve got to be able to go into this league and make sure that we’re safe within it, which isn’t an easy task, but we also want to be as competitive as we can.

“It may take us some time to grow the club into being competitive in the Premier League, but we’re there now, we’ve got to stay there and we’ve got to grow in it.

“We’ve got to have a go. We’re a sporting entity and if you’re not going to be having a go you shouldn’t be doing it. It’s difficult just to make up the numbers in the Premier League, but if you start thinking like that then you’re going to struggle.

“We were in it 11 or 12 years last time around and we were pretty competitive in that time. We’ve got to make sure we can build into being like that again.”

Premier League status means Boro are guaranteed a minimum cash boost of £170m – a figure combining prize money and parachute payments – and it would soar further if they stayed up in 12 months’ time.

Before holding top level talks to discuss the future, Gibson wants everyone to enjoy the moment.

It has been a difficult year on Teesside following the closure of the Redcar steel plant and the death of well-loved BBC Tees commentator Alastair Brownlee.

Gibson said: “I’m very pleased for the town and for the fans. I’m very pleased for Aitor. This is a great group of people at management level, but the players have been great all season, too. They’re a really good bunch and I’m delighted for them.

“They’ve shown tremendous fortitude throughout the season and this is a really tough league. To achieve what we’ve achieved, we’re absolutely delighted.

“Ali Brownlee … we were all distraught about and it’s a tragedy for his family and we all know what happened with the steelworks, but Teesside is beginning to bounce back.

“There’s a lot of good things happening and hopefully promotion and this club can be a catalyst for that. It’s not doom and gloom on Teesside, there are a lot of positives here. Hopefully this is the start.”

Middlesbrough fans have wondered whether the end of the season would see the departure of Karanka, particularly after a recent report suggested Nigel Pearson had been considered as a replacement.

The speculation stemmed from his bust-up with the players in March, when he did not take charge of a game at Charlton. Gibson, though, wants Karanka to lead them into the first season back in the Premier League.

Gibson said: “That’s all credit to Aitor. If you speak to Aitor and you speak to me, we were really the two people who knew what was going on and there was no danger of Aitor leaving the club.

“He wasn’t going to leave. I didn’t want him to leave. The outcome was easy - he was going to stay. We had a bump, the bump was because of all kinds of pressures and we didn’t just smooth it out, it was a catalyst and it galvanised us to move on. We’ve not lost since.”