AITOR KARANKA has hit back at pundits claiming Middlesbrough will be in trouble this season unless they change their counter-attacking approach by insisting he will stick to his guns ahead of Saturday’s trip to champions Leicester City.

Former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson was critical of Boro after last Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Chelsea, when he felt striker Alvaro Negredo was left on his own up front far too often – and not for the first time.

There has also been criticism from Kevin Kilbane and Matt le Tissier, among others, but there can be no disguising the fact Boro have grown in strength defensively to frustrate some of the division’s best teams.

They claimed a point at both Arsenal and Manchester City in recent matches, while also frustrating in-form Chelsea by and large, but they are still lacking a cutting edge at the other end.

The defeat to Chelsea prompted Lawrenson, talking on Match of the Day last weekend, to state: “They don't have to take the initiative (at home), but the problem is if they are going to stay in the division, against the teams who we recognise will be lower in the league, they have to create more opportunities.”

That followed on from Kilbane saying: “It's almost like Groundhog Day watching Middlesbrough because they don't create enough, they don't get enough bodies in support of Negredo. How many times this season have we said 'Negredo's isolated up front.’”

But Karanka, speaking at his pre-match press conference at Rockliffe Park, was adamant he is doing things correctly in his bid to keep his side above the bottom three – and that Lawro and Co should not expect much to change at the King Power Stadium today.

The head coach said: “I really didn't know the comments, but I'd like to know how many chances the bottom teams create against the Man City, Arsenal or Chelsea? I don't think it's easy to create chances against them.

“We should have won against Arsenal, we drew against Manchester City and we didn't deserve to lose against Chelsea. We knew we'd only have a few chances, every single team playing against those teams will find that they only have a few chances.

"When we go to Leicester we also have to remember that they won the league last season and are in the Champions League knock-out stages. It's a really dangerous game for us.”

Leicester, who progressed from the group stage in European club football’s premier competition earlier this week, have struggled to recapture last season’s domestic form.

They are only a point and a place better off than Boro, although the Foxes have impressed at the King Power by winning three and losing only one of their home dates so far.

Karanka said: "At the moment Leicester are a direct rival in the league, but we can't forget that they're already through in the Champions League and they won the league last season. At the moment they are one point above us. Maybe in three or four weeks maybe they're seven points above us, or maybe we'll be seven points above them in a few weeks.

"It doesn’t surprise me where Leicester are because in Spain it happened the same. I remember now teams like Celta Vigo, Racing Santander and Villarreal, who qualified for Champions League then the following season they had problems. It's normal because they are not a team used to playing two competitions.

“Sometimes you're going to pay for that. It's a dangerous game if we think they are not good because they're in their current position. They're a really good team, an amazing example of togetherness and they have a good manager.”

Karanka, whose side have drawn four out of their last five away matches, is not thinking about changing too much for the trip, so Daniel Ayala and Bernardo Espinosa will miss out because of the form of Calum Chambers and Ben Gibson at the heart of the defence.

While Ayala has had ongoing injury problems and is fit again, Espinosa has been fit for a while after recovering from a serious knee injury and is yet to appear in a first-team game since signing as a free agent after leaving Sporting Gijon.

Karanka explained: "He's another example as a professional working in the way he is. One day he will have his chance because he's an amazing professional and amazing person and I'm really pleased with him.

“He knew before he came I told him the truth that he wasn't guaranteed a place, he's been out for a long spell injured six or seven months, so he knew it was going to be difficult. It was a big challenge for him.”