Aitor Karanka sees positives in Middlesbrough defeat to Chelsea

Aitor Karanka thinks Middlesbrough will soon return to winning ways if they play as they did in their 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday.

Diego Costa's goal proved the difference at the Riverside as the Blues kept a sixth straight clean sheet and moved top of the Premier League.

Boro battled throughout but were unable to grab a point as they did against Arsenal and Manchester City before the international break.

However, Boro boss Karanka told Sky Sports: "I would have been concerned if the performances were not there, but since we lost here to Watford (on October 16) the performances have been really good.

"We lost today but the performance was really good. We will fight until the end. Playing the way we have in the last month we will win games."

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Boro struggled to create chances against Chelsea, with Alvaro Negredo going closest when he saw a shot saved in the second half.

"You can't be pleased, especially when you have lost the game, but I was really pleased with the attitude of my players," added Karanka. "We knew we were going to play against a top team. We knew it was going to be difficult and we did almost everything, but it is the Premier League and one mistake we are punished.

"Costa is one of the top scorers in the world, when you are playing against players like him I told them before the game that you can't lose him for one second. But I don't want to say anything bad about my players because they were perfect."