What are the key issues facing Aitor Karanka ahead of Middlesbrough's game with Tottenham?

Boro have not lost three games in a row since the second half of the 2012-13 season, so what are the key issues facing Aitor Karanka as he looks to ensure an improved performance in three days’ time?

IS IT TIME FOR A DEFENSIVE RESHUFFLE?

Boro’s defensive strength was the bedrock of last season’s promotion success, and the Teessiders started the current campaign in reasonably good shape at the back. However, the last two games have featured a series of defensive errors, leading to questions about whether it is time for a change.

Should Karanka break-up Daniel Ayala and Ben Gibson’s central defensive partnership and hand Calum Chambers his first appearance since agreeing a loan move from Arsenal?

Chambers has been signed primarily as a centre-half, and will feel he deserves a chance after watching Boro ship five goals in their last two matches.

Karanka will also have to think about whether Antonio Barragan is the right man to be lining up at right-back. Should Emilio Nsue revert back to that role, having played in midfield at Goodison Park? Or might Chambers’ defensive strengths make him an option in the full-back berth?

HOW TO ENSURE ALVARO NEGREDO RECEIVES MORE SUPPORT?

Alvaro Negredo has looked an isolated figure in Boro’s last two matches, and even though he scored the opening goal in the 3-1 defeat at Everton, the Spaniard clearly needs more support in the final third.

One way of providing that would be to change formation and name two orthodox centre-forwards, but having been wedded to a 4-2-3-1 formation throughout his time at the Riverside, it would be a major surprise if Karanka embarked on a radical change of tack now.

He needs to do something though, with Gaston Ramirez having proved utterly ineffective last weekend. Perhaps it is time to switch Stewart Downing infield and ask him to perform the number ten role, or field Cristhian Stuani more centrally as a secondary striker?

Alternatively, if Adam Clayton is selected as a defensive midfielder, either Marten de Roon or Adam Forshaw could be instructed to play ten yards further up the pitch, enabling them to break into the box and push beyond Negredo on occasion.

GUARDING AGAINST AN INFERIORITY COMPLEX

The Crystal Palace defeat could be written off as a bad day at the office, but for the first time last weekend, it felt as though Boro went into the game at Everton not really expecting to get too much out of it.

Karanka praised Everton to the hilt in the build-up, and admitted Ronald Koeman’s side were not one of the teams he was targeting to get points off in the aftermath of the 3-1 defeat.

No one is questioning the need for some realism, and it is undeniably true that Boro will struggle in the majority of their matches against the leading teams in the division. But there is a difference between managing expectation and being too fatalistic, and Karanka is in danger of straying onto the wrong side of the line.

Tottenham represent daunting opposition on Saturday, but if Boro feel they cannot compete in their home matches against the top five or six teams, they will find themselves writing off a lot of matches. Yes, Spurs will start as favourites. But Boro have to be more positive and take the fight to their opponents, especially when Mauricio Pochettino will be without his side’s leading striker, Harry Kane.

WORK OUT WHAT TO DO WITH JORDAN RHODES

Karanka is clearly tired of fielding questions about Jordan Rhodes. Whenever the striker’s name is mentioned in a press conference, there is a rolling of the eyeballs and a muttering under the breath.

Karanka does not believe he is treating Rhodes unfairly – he simply feels the Scotsman does not deserve a place in the match-day 18. Ultimately, he and he alone will make that decision. But can a team that has scored just five goals in five league games really afford to cast aside a £13m striker?

Perhaps Rhodes is not ideally suited to the Premier League. His lack of pace could be an issue at the highest level, although it is not as pronounced as some would claim. It is hard to be conclusive, though, until he has had a chance to test himself in the top-flight.

David Nugent is a willing enough worker, but he is not really the type of player who is going to come off the bench and convert a chance to change a game. Rhodes could be, so if Karanka is not prepared to use him, he needs to give a more detailed explanation as to why.