AITOR KARANKA says James Husband’s shoulder injury has removed much of the satisfaction from Middlesbrough's resounding 6-0 pre-season win over York City.

Boro dominated from start to finish at Bootham Crescent, but for the second year in succession, their opening pre-season outing was blighted by a serious injury.

Twelve months ago, Alex Baptiste broke his leg while playing against York, and while Husband’s dislocated shoulder is not as serious as that, it will still mean the full-back misses the start of the Premier League season.

Husband spent the majority of last season on loan at Fulham and Huddersfield Town, but as things stand, he is the only natural left-back cover to established first-choice George Friend.

“Once again, the score was the last thing that I was thinking about because once again we had an injury,” said Karanka, who watched his side triumph thanks to goals from David Nugent, Albert Adomah, Jordan Rhodes (2) and Adam Reach, and an own goal from York goalkeeper Scott Flinders.

“It’s not the same as last season, but we had another injury with Hubby. That is the worst thing when you are playing in pre-season. For me, these kind of games are really just a training session, and when you go home with an injury, it is not good.

“I am pleased because they did well. Maybe not tactically and in terms of the way they were playing, but the effort was good in what was really just another training session. But I hope that Hubby is back with us as soon as possible.”

Karanka fielded two of his new signings at York, with Marten de Roon playing at the base of midfield in the second half and Jordan McGhee coming on at the interval to play at centre-half.

Victor Valdes, Bernardo Espinosa and Viktor Fischer have also joined since the transfer window opened, but Karanka admits he is hoping to make further additions before the end of next month.

“It has been great (making five signings) because it shows how well the club is working,” he said. “Last summer, we had problems bringing in players at the beginning, but now we have a lot of players arriving and hopefully there will be more arriving soon. The targets are more or less clear, and for that reason I am really pleased.”

Karanka was happy with his players’ performance at Bootham Crescent, although he expects performances to improve sharply once he has had the chance to do some detailed work on tactics on the training ground.

Boro’s players have been back in training for a week, but the main focus so far has been on improving the levels of their fitness.

“I can’t take too much from the game because we are only in the first week and we haven’t worked tactically or anything like that,” said Karanka. “Training has been good from a fitness point of view, and today was another part of that.

“This week, or maybe when we arrive in Marbella, we will start to work more tactically. But the first week, especially now when we have a lot of players who were with us last season, is different because they already know the tactics.”

Boro’s next pre-season outing comes at Doncaster next weekend, with thoughts already turning to the club’s opening Premier League fixture against Stoke City on August 13.

“I think the fans are really excited for this season, like we are,” said Karanka. “They know that once again the club is working really well. We just have to keep going.”