AITOR KARANKA is looking for Middlesbrough to rediscover the defensive resilience that was the driving force behind last season’s promotion push.

Boro have started the campaign positively by collecting five points from their opening four Premier League matches, even defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday was their first of the season.

But Karanka, the head coach, will look to improve his team’s defensive displays this week after signs that they are understandably finding it tougher than they did in the Championship.

Palace scored two goals courtesy of mistakes on Saturday and there have also been errors in previous fixtures, despite the decent form since returning to the top-flight.

Middlesbrough kept 22 clean sheets during the promotion winning season but they have conceded in four out of the five matches, including the 2-1 defeat at Fulham in the EFL Cup.

There have been a number of changes over the summer to equip the squad for a higher level of football, with Victor Valdes and Antonio Barragan the two new faces in the Middlesbrough starting line-up against Palace.

But injuries have not helped Karanka’s cause because he has had no continuity in his team selection, being forced to change at least one player in his back five in each of the matches so far.

Calum Chambers, on loan from Arsenal, and Bernardo Espinosa, a signing from Sporting Gijon, are vying for an opportunity but Karanka knows his back four effectively picked itself in the Championship.

The Middlesbrough boss, whose side travel to Everton on Saturday to face Romelu Lukaku and Co, will spend a chunk of this week looking at ways his side can rediscover their defensive strength.

One of the players who had a part to play in Middlesbrough’s promotion winning season has claimed his new club has a stronger squad than what finished second in May.

Tomas Kalas, who was on loan from Chelsea, has now moved over to Fulham and he suffered a first defeat of the campaign against Birmingham on Saturday.

But the Hungarian has already been impressed with the squad put together by Slavisa Jokanovic.

Kalas said: “I think we’ve got an even stronger squad than Middlesbrough had. We’ve got many offensive players and we play very well in a shape defensively.

“I don’t want to say that Middlesbrough had bad players, obviously, they had really good players, that’s why they got promoted. At Fulham If you see the names, the quality, I think we should chase promotion. That’s the aim.”

Middlesbrough have been credited with an interest in Venezuelan midfielder Juanpi Anor. He can play on either wing and centre midfield and Malaga rate him at around £2.5m.

Karanka strengthened in those areas during the summer although his recruitment team are already considering options when the transfer window opens in January.