PATRICK BAMFORD wants to extend his loan at Middlesbrough until the end of the season after rescuing a point for his side at Wigan on Saturday.

The 21-year-old striker joined Boro on loan from Chelsea in August until January, but manager Aitor Karanka has already expressed a wish to keep him at the Riverside beyond that – and Bamford himself announced that he would be happy to stay until the end of the campaign.

Bamford came on as a substitute at the DW Stadium and scored the equaliser to Shaun Maloney’s first-half goal with only his second touch, and paid tribute to Karanka after the game.

“At the moment, I’m only here until the New Year, but I’m keen to stay,” said Bamford, who has scored five goals in his 13 appearances for Boro so far this term.

“I like it here, I like the manager. He believes in me, which is important, so so far I don’t think there’s any reason for me to go back.”

Boro were good value for their point against Wigan, in a game where the Latics belied their position in the bottom three to put in a decent performance under new manager Malky Mackay, and it is one point that Bamford felt could be a big one as Boro plot a return to the Premier League.

“It could be very important,” said Bamford. “In the first half, by our own standards, was not very good, most of the boys will admit that. In the second half, we pulled it together a bit.

“I’m not sure what was said at half-time, I was out warming up, but we turned it around and in the end a draw was a fair result.

“Once you get past Christmas, a couple of teams will start to pull away, and hopefully we’ll be one of them. At the moment, there’s only a couple of points in it, everyone’s really tight. It’s always a tight division, the Championship, it’s really hard to predict. Hopefully we can pull away after Christmas.

Bamford starred last season for MK Dons and Derby, scoring 24 goals in total while on loan at the League One and Championship sides respectively, but has not nailed down a regular starting role at Boro. However, he is proving to be an asset from the bench.

And the forward believes the value in his versatility was there for all to see on Saturday with his instant impact from the bench.

“Since I first started playing, when I made my first start at Milton Keynes, I was on the wing, then up front, so I’ve always been alternating,” said Bamford. “Number nine is my preferred position but if the manager wants me to play somewhere else then I’m happy to do it.

“It was a nice way to come on, almost straight after I came on. To be fair, it’s hard to come on as a sub and get used to the tempo, but fortunately this time, I got a chance straight away and I managed to tuck it away.

“I usually find when I come on everyone else is faster than you. It’s a bit difficult to get used to the pace of the game. Saturday was difficult because of the pitch, and it was hard to keep your feet so it was a tough game to get into.”