AITOR KARANKA has insisted he will not make the same mistakes as compatriot Rafael Benitez when Middlesbrough attempt to avoid a slip on the same FA Cup banana skin that left Newcastle United floored.

The Magpies were dumped out of the competition at the end of last month when Benitez made nine changes to his league team to face Oxford United in the fourth round.

The changes included youngsters Curtis Good, Daniel Barlaser and Yasin Ben El-Mhanni and ended with the League One team hitting three goals without reply to knock out the Championship leaders.

Now Michael Appleton, the Oxford boss, will head to Teesside looking to stun Newcastle’s Premier League neighbours.

And Boro's head coach Karanka insists he will not be making any mistakes as he looks to steer his team into the quarter-final of the FA Cup for the first time since 2009.

“As a manager, it is important to trust the players and to let them know it is an important game – even if you make 11 changes,” said Karanka.

“From a coaching point of view, it is important to show you are putting out a strong team because the message has to be it is an important game. My message is always to try to do the best you can.”

Karanka, who has not spoken to Benitez, added: “We have been analysing that Newcastle game at Oxford. You can see Oxford have a good team, good players and are good at set pieces.

“They are a team you can feel are always working hard. I have watched clips from that Newcastle game and we know it is going to be a difficult game.”

Karanka made a number of changes himself when Boro edged past Accrington in the previous round courtesy of Stewart Downing’s second half winner.

He is expected to make more when the U’s travel to the North-East, although he will not introduce inexperienced youngsters into the side like Benitez did.

Left-back George Friend is available, while Daniel Ayala could slot in at the heart of the defence for the first time since being sent off in the third round victory over Sheffield Wednesday. Right-back Antonio Barragan is still missing with a hamstring injury.

Another change that is likely is one that could see Rudy Gestede start up front instead of Alvaro Negredo. The latter has worked hard to lead the line up front on his own and has effectively become an automatic pick.

Gestede’s arrival for a £6m from Aston Villa, however, means he has greater competition for the role.

The presence of Gestede in the closing stages against Everton last Saturday saw him almost score the winner when his fantastic header was tipped over by goalkeeper Joel Robles.

Karanka said: “Alvaro is working really well. It is not a coincidence that with Rudy now here, there is more pressure on him. You could see in the last ten minutes when Rudy was on the pitch, he touched the ball three times and had one chance.

“Now Alvaro feels that pressure and that has to be good for us. Pressure like that is good for everyone. Having Gestede here can be one of the reasons Alvaro can improve. At the start of the season, we did not have the squad we have now. If we lost games we were not managing games the way we are managing them now.”

Middlesbrough will weigh up whether to hand Gaston Ramirez his first start since January 2 against Oxford. He was used as a second half substitute against Everton after he was told he would not be sold to Leicester before the transfer window closed.

Karanka has stressed how important Ramirez is to the team to him. He said: “Yes, we had a meeting, but the best way to show a player how important he is for the team is not on a sofa in a meeting.

“It is that he is playing and I am giving him all my confidence, as I have tried to do since he arrived here.

“It’s not difficult for him because I have always said in press conferences here and in my meetings with him how important he is for the team, and he knows.

“It’s not a reason or an excuse that you can tell him.

“He knows because I have shown him how important he is for this club, for this team, as he was when he came here.

“The team, the club have helped him to reach that level and now with him, we know we have three or four really important months in front of us and he knows he is really important in this team.”