AITOR KARANKA does not expect to be doing much business during the January transfer window, claiming the current Middlesbrough squad is more than capable of seeing the club through to the end of the season.

While last summer’s transfer acquisitions took Boro close to the limits of what is permitted under the Football League’s Financial Fair Play regulations, there is understood to be room for one or two more additions when the transfer window reopens at the turn of the year.

The Teessiders boast considerable strength in depth in most areas of the field, but there is perhaps a need for additional cover at central midfield and a reliable back up to first-choice goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos.

With Boro ensconced in the play-off positions, Steve Gibson would be prepared to support Karanka in the transfer market, but having brought in 13 players on either a permanent or loan basis since the end of last season, the Spanish head coach is in no rush to make further additions.

“At the moment, I am very pleased with my squad,” said Karanka. “I came in one year ago, and I know how difficult this part of the season can be. But we have a much better squad now than we had at the same time of last season.

“We have much better players, and more players than we had then. Maybe things will change between now and January, and I will be sitting here saying we need one or two players. But at the moment, I don’t think we are going to need that.”

While some managers like to use the loan market to regularly reshuffle their squad during the course of a campaign, Karanka does not like to make too many changes while the season is ongoing.

Milos Veljkovic’s loan move from Tottenham was agreed when the season was two months old, but that was a rare response to a specific situation rather than a pre-planned policy to change things between games.

“When I manage a team, at the start of the season I like to have a squad that can last the whole way through,” explained Karanka. “That is how I like to manage.

“When we talked about who we would sign in the summer, we talked about building a squad and were thinking about finishing the season with that same squad in May. Now, all of the players are doing really well, not just the players who are playing, but also the players that are not in the team.

“It is amazing to have players like (Jelle) Vossen, Milos (Veljkovic), Yanic (Wildschut) or Dean (Whitehead) who are not playing. When you look at the bench with ten minutes to go, you see players who can change the game. That is as important as the first XI.”

Boro’s options might not be so extensive had they suffered a glut of injuries during the first half of the campaign, but while Rhys Williams, Mustapha Carayol and Damia Abella have been sidelined by long-term issues, there have been precious few strains or tears to keep players out of action for two or three weeks at a time.

Some of that is down to luck, but Karanka also feels that his staff’s careful monitoring of the squad’s workload is a major factor in limiting the damage caused by absences because of injury.

“Maybe I am lucky,” he said. “You have to build a squad thinking about May, but you still have to work on the pitch thinking about the next game. But while you are doing that, it is important to manage the players the best you can.

“We did double sessions on Tuesday, and you have to know when you are in a position to be able to do that. Sometimes, it is impossible, and when it gets to January and February, and we are playing so many games, we will have to scale things back a bit.

“You have to manage your squad, but I am not alone. I have a physical trainer who is very good, a goalkeeping coach who is very good, and medical staff and doctors who work very hard to look after the players.

“We don’t have too many injuries at the moment, and I think that is because we are doing good things. Carayol’s injury was his knee, and Rhys’ problems are his tendons, so that was not a muscular thing either. We’ll have to keep working in the same way and think about the future.”

Williams should be ready to start easing himself back into action with Boro’s development squad in the next three weeks, while Carayol should be available for a first-team return at the start of next year.