GRANT LEADBITTER is tired of receiving plaudits for Middlesbrough’s spirit and commitment this season – so the skipper’s New Year’s resolution for 2017 is to start converting the praise into points.

Boro might have ended 2016 on a bitterly disappointing note as they conceded two goals in the space of 90 seconds to crash to a 2-1 defeat at Manchester United, but their passionate display at Old Trafford was in keeping with many of their performances in the first half of the season, especially against some of the leading teams in the division.

Aitor Karanka’s side claimed draws at Arsenal and Manchester City, and were only beaten by one goal by runaway league leaders Chelsea, yet they will kick off the New Year against Leicester this afternoon just two places above the bottom three.

It is possible to claim they are better than their league position suggests, but in typically forthright fashion, Leadbitter has admitted that will count for nothing unless results improve in the second half of the campaign.

Boro’s next three games pit them against teams in the bottom half of the table, and having made a goalscoring return to action at Old Trafford, Leadbitter does not want to be reflecting on any more hard-luck stories in the next couple of months.

“It doesn’t matter how well you’re playing or how many people are congratulating you – if you’re leaving a game with nothing, you’re always going to be gutted,” said the Boro skipper, who will hope to retain his place in the starting line-up ahead of Adam Clayton this afternoon.

“That’s the message we want coming out of the dressing room, and all the way through the football club. Yes, you have to do well as professionals and play as well as you can. But ultimately, you have to win games.

“It’s as simple as that, and that’s all that matters. It’s all about winning games. Doing well in matches and giving your all – that’s your job. You shouldn’t get a pat on the back for doing that, especially if you’re not winning. You get judged on picking up points, and I’m confident we will do that.”

Leadbitter’s second-half strike at the weekend finally enabled the midfielder to draw a line under a difficult spell that saw him struggle to force his way back into the first team after undergoing hernia surgery in the summer.

Having been an instrumental part of last season’s successful promotion campaign, Leadbitter has been understandably frustrated at his lack of involvement this term, but he has continued to carry out his captaincy duties in a professional, whole-hearted manner, and is determined to do all he can to secure an extended run in the starting line-up.

“It’s good to be back,” he said. “It’s been a long time, and it’s been a really long injury. It’s been a difficult injury, a really difficult injury. Probably the toughest I’ve had in my career.

“A lot of hard work has gone in to getting back here, and it’s up to me to keep going now. I won’t stop fighting, that’s in my blood. I want that message to come right through the dressing room – we don’t stop fighting for anything.”

Karanka made five changes for Saturday’s game, and the Boro head coach concedes he always regarded today’s match with 15th-placed Leicester as the more important part of his side’s New Year double-header.

“It is the kind of game we have to win,” said Karanka. “We are playing at home, and I have always said that playing in our way, we will win games against direct opponents like we did against Hull, Swansea and Bournemouth.

“But we have to know that if we think we can play with less intensity, we are going to have problems. We need to play with at least the same intensity we played with against Man United.”

Middlesbrough (probable, 4-5-1): Valdes; Barragan, Chambers, Gibson, Fabio; Stuani, de Roon, Clayton, Forshaw, Ramirez; Negredo.