AITOR KARANKA will be scaling back his squad rotation this season, and the Middlesbrough boss admits it will be harder to keep his squad happy if he is keeping his changes to a minimum.

Last season, Karanka was routinely changing three or four players each game as he tried to keep his squad fresh and injury-free despite the intensive demands of the Championship programme.

This term, Boro will play eight fewer league games, and having been knocked out of the EFL Cup at Fulham last month, Karanka’s side do not have a midweek fixture until they entertain Liverpool on December 14.

As a result, the Spaniard is much more likely to name the same starting XI from one weekend to the next, and while that will be a positive development for the players in his first-choice line-up, it will be less welcome to those who find themselves on the fringe of the senior squad.

The likes of Alex Baptiste, Julien de Sart, David Nugent and Jordan Rhodes are yet to make a Premier League start this season, and ensuring his entire squad remain motivated and upbeat will be one of Karanka’s biggest challenges over the course of the next eight months.

“I think, last season, it was easier to motivate the players because they knew they could play any time,” said the Boro head coach. “This season is more difficult as, with less games, we’ll have less injuries.

“We didn’t have a lot last season, but we'll have less, and with a week to work and to rest and prepare for games, it’s difficult to rotate the squad as I did last season.

“So it’ll be harder to motivate the players who aren't playing, but I always tell them that football can change from one day to the next so they need to be ready. One example is Adam Forshaw – he’s been here for a year-and-a-half and was waiting for his chance, and when got that, he took it.”

Karanka is likely to make at least one change for tomorrow’s game at Everton, with Gaston Ramirez set to return to the starting line-up after coming on for the final half-hour of last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.

Ramirez will come in for Viktor Fischer in the ‘number ten’ role, and Karanka could also have to replace Cristhian Stuani if the Uruguayan fails to pass a fitness test. Stuani damaged his groin in the Palace defeat, with deadline-day signing Adama Troare primed for his first Boro start if the versatile forward does not make it in time.

Everton are one of three unbeaten sides in the top-flight, and Ronald Koeman’s side showcased their qualities as they cruised to a 3-0 win at Sunderland on Monday night.

Karanka watched most of the game from the Stadium of Light stands, but while he was understandably impressed with Romelu Lukaku’s second-half hat-trick, he claims he did not learn anything he did not already know in the wake of Everton’s League Cup win at the Riverside last season.

Lukaku and Gerard Deulofeu scored as Everton brushed Boro aside at the quarter-final stage last December, and Karanka feels Koeman has merely built on some strong foundations that were established by his predecessor, Roberto Martinez.

“I think they are more or less the same as last season,” said the Boro boss. “The two goals that they scored (against Boro) were more or less the same as they scored against Sunderland.

“The difference now is they have Ronald Koeman. It was sad for me when Roberto got sacked, it was disappointing for me as he’s a good manager, but the atmosphere at the club now is different.

“They’re in a good way, but their style is the same. Looking at that game in December, and ten months later, we can learn the same from the last game against Crystal Palace.

“If you let a player deliver the ball, and then if you allow (Christian) Benteke or Lukaku to head it, you’re going to have problems. We have to be careful and play to our best not just for ten or 15 minutes, but make sure we concentrate for the full 90 minutes of the game.”

Last season, the Everton cup defeat represented a rare setback in an otherwise successful campaign. This term, while last weekend’s Palace reverse was Boro’s first loss of the season, Karanka’s side will almost certainly have to get used to bouncing back from adversity, something they have not encountered too often in the last couple of years.

“The players are not stupid,” he said. “They know we are playing the best teams in the world. Last season, we could win without playing really well, but this season we know we are in the Premier League. I hope we will win a lot of games, but the players know we will lose games too.”