AITOR KARANKA thinks Middlesbrough are playing with personality again after a brief spell in August when he realised his squad needed an injection of new blood.

When Boro lost at Leeds United on the second Saturday of the season, he was left puzzled by a run of three defeats in four Championship fixtures.

But Karanka addressed the situation by adding Patrick Bamford, Jelle Vossen and Yanic Wildschut to his ranks after losing to Reading on August 30. He has also since added Milos Veljkovic and Jamal Blackman.

The Spaniard’s recruitment drive arrived at just the right time, giving the playing staff a boost before winning the first game after the transfer deadline when Boro travelled to Huddersfield.

The defeat at Wolves on October 21 is the only occasion the Teessiders have lost since; a run of just one reversal in 12 league outings. That has turned them into serious promotion contenders as they sit in third place ahead of next Saturday’s return to action at struggling Wigan, who have sacked boss Use Rosler.

Karanka said: “We finished last season playing really well and we started this season against Birmingham and Oldham well. We then lost some consistency. When a team like ours loses our personality, we don’t know how to play in another way.

“We have rediscovered our consistency, our personality, which is why we have started to win more games again. We have played better. We are all in a good place. We have to make sure that continues. If we don’t concede goals then we should be fine because we have players who can score at any moment.”

After the trip to Wigan, where they will be backed by around 5,000 fans, Middlesbrough face Blackburn and Millwall before the visit of Steve McClaren’s Derby County on December 13. That fixture could shape up to be a battle between two of the promotion favourites, with the Rams sitting top of the pile.

Karanka is happy that Boro's fans are tuning into the rise in standards and expectations by turning up in greater numbers, but he is also adamant that his players should not be getting carried away.

“We are not conceding as many goals, we are scoring more goals than we used to, so we are going well. Our target is to go in the same way, work in the same intensity ... that will always be the same,” said the manager.

“I have different messages for both the players and the fans. For the fans they should enjoy the moment and enjoy where we are, what we have been doing. They are in a very good moment.

“For the players it is not that simple. The players have to realise that whatever games they have played already, they are in the past. We have plenty of games coming up, we have got this international break to recover, and they all have to be ready to go again.

“We need to win as many matches as we can so what is in the past, is in the past. It’s about getting the results in the future.”