By JONATHAN BARBER

AFTER Middlesbrough’s surprise defeat to Bristol City, fans will be hoping for an immediate positive response against Nottingham Forest; judging by Aitor Karanka’s impressive record following a defeat, the signs are good.

You will have to go back as far as April 2014 for the last time Boro lost consecutive games in all competitions - defeats to Millwall and Reading towards the end of the 2013/2014 season the only time under Karanka that Boro have lost two in a row.

If anyone ever needed reminding how impressive Karanka’s reign as head coach has been, they lost two or more games consecutively on twelve separate occasions under Tony Mowbray, as well as a run of six defeats in seven in 2012/2013 which ironically came to an end against Forest.

This staggering statistic is testament to the bouncebackability under Karanka.

Following defeat to the Robins five games into the season, the Teessiders went on a seven-game winning run, igniting the club’s season after an uninspiring start.

Boro have been beaten seven times this season and should they beat Forest, it would be six wins and a draw following each loss this campaign; only Fulham have prevented Karanka’s men from following up a defeat with a victory.

In fact, Boro's best runs of form this season have come following potentially debilitating losses which have then provoked a ruthless response.

Following the bitter blow of losing late at Cardiff, Boro won four in a row without conceding, including the memorable Capital One Cup penalty shoot-out win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

After the 3-0 drubbing at Hull - when Boro were well below their best - they went on an outstanding run, winning eight and conceding no goals in nine Championship matches, until that came to an end against Bristol City.

It is not only this season where Karanka’s team have bounced back brilliantly from defeat, last time they faced Nottingham Forest at home, a game which was a comfortable 3-0 win, Boro had just been soundly beaten 2-0 at Ipswich.

A similar scoreline on Saturday would be the perfect result for Karanka as Boro look to bounce straight back from their shock defeat to relegation-

threatened Bristol and perhaps go on another impressive unbeaten run.