Aitor Karanka said early transfers making difference for Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka believes the club's early transfer activity has helped his side settle into life back in the Premier League.

Boro secured bragging rights in the North East with a 2-1 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Sunday thanks to a double from Cristhian Stuani. 

It follows a 1-1 draw with Stoke at the Riverside and means Karanka's side are unbeaten in the league since their return to the top flight. 

Speaking to Sky Sports, Karanka said winning was important for the fans and highlighted the club's early business as bringing in players including Alvaro Negredo as one of the reasons behind their good start.   

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"I think today the most important thing as always were the points," the Spaniard said. "It is always important to win the games, especially [a] derby for our crowd because I know how long they have been waiting for this moment and for that reason I am really pleased for the players and for the crowd.

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"As a manager, you want to have the best players as possible because when you have those players you know you can score any time. I was really pleased but not just with the players on the pitch but for the players on the bench who are injured or at home because we have a really good squad."

"I said since we started the pre-season, the club had worked really well behind the scenes. The last two seasons we finished the season and started to to build the squad in August.

"This season, we could go to Spain to a training camp with almost all the squad. For that reason we are playing well, we are compact, we are playing with intensity and it is important to collect points as soon as possible."

Boro ended seven years in the Sky Bet Championship last season by securing automatic promotion to the top tier of English football with a second-place finish.

Asked how his side were coping with the step up, Karanka praised his players performances. 

"It was another good test," he added. "Last Saturday, we played really, really well against Stoke and Stoke had finished the last two seasons in ninth position so for us it was a good test.

"Today, a derby game, another game with a lot of pressure, a lot of emotions and the players handled the game really well."