AITOR KARANKA keeps hearing that Middlesbrough are going to be playing in the Premier League next season – even when he goes on the morning school run.

The Spanish boss has got Boro showing greater consistency and the midweek performance at Liverpool in the Capital One Cup, on the back of three league wins in a row, has increased the spotlight on his work.

Suddenly more and more punters and pundits are starting to suggest that Middlesbrough have every chance of finally securing a return to the top-flight this season – and he is well aware of the rising expectations.

But Karanka, a former Real Madrid player and coach familiar with dealing with the pressures of professional football, is doing his best his best to take things slowly, even if he holds similar promotion aspirations himself.

He said: “The people in the street have stopped me to tell me we’re going to be in the Premier League next season. I understand because after a few good games there is excitement, I would be the same way.

“But I have to keep calm because we are only in September. I say back to them ‘I’m only thinking about the Charlton game’. It’s every person who I see says it, everyone. Whether it is when I take my kids to school, everybody. I understand what they’re thinking but it’s not true ... we have to take be careful.”

Middlesbrough head to Charlton today sitting fifth in the Championship after collecting nine points from their last three league games. A fourth win could even see Boro climb level with Nottingham Forest on points at the top of the division ahead of back-to-back home dates next week.

“I can’t think about what is happening in May. We lost against Liverpool on Tuesday, if we lose two or three games in one week then we would lose our personality, our happiness, everything. For this reason we can only think about the Charlton game, not what might happen in May,” he said.

“It’s not difficult for me to stay calm because I had a lot of victories and defeats as a player which bring experience. I can understand what people are feeling but we have to finish the season strongly starting now. I want to be in the Premier League but we are in the Championship.”

Despite his call for calm and perspective, Karanka is still willing to accept the signs of progress in his squad are there for all to see after his first ten months in charge.

He said: “We have (made progress) and things are going well, I’m happy. But my experience tells me that when everybody tells you how good you are, how well you are playing, how beautiful you are, then I am the person - with my staff - who has to keep their feet on the ground.”

Such was the performance at Liverpool on Tuesday night, when Middlesbrough came close to knocking the Premier League runners-up out of the Capital One Cup, the Reds boss Brendan Rodgers paid tribute to Karanka’s team.

But the Middlesbrough boss said: “Brendan said some nice things. When a manager like Brendan says these kind of things about my team it makes me proud. These words are stored away in my office, now I have to focus on the next game.

“That’s how I approach every single game. When I go to my office, Brendan might say nice things, so it would be wrong to think that everything was done, completed. It would be a huge mistake. Everybody in the street is telling my players how beautiful they are, how good they are, but that would soon go if we lost games.”

Middlesbrough (4-4-2): Konstantopoulos; Fredericks, Omeruo, Gibson, Friend; Adomah, Clayton, Leadbitter, Nsue; Vossen; Bamford.

Charlton: Henderson; Solly, Ben Haim, Bikey, Wiggins; Gudmundsson, Jackson; Buyens, Cousins, Moussa; Vetokele.