Bristol City 1-0 Middlesbrough: John Pemberton and Aitor Karanka reaction
Saturday 16 January 2016 19:22, UK
Middlesbrough head coach Aitor Karanka had no complaints after his side's long unbeaten Sky Bet Championship run came to an end at managerless Bristol City on Saturday afternoon.
The league leaders looked set to leave Ashton Gate with a point, extending their nine-match unbeaten run in the league.
However, Wes Burns' injury-time winner saw Boro suffer a 1-0 loss to struggling City - not that boss Karanka had any complaints.
"It was a late goal, but it could have come five or 10 minutes earlier because we couldn't clear our box in the closing stages," he said.
"We knew it would be a tough game and that Bristol were dangerous from set pieces, but I expected much more from my players.
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"We didn't deserve to win because we didn't play in our usual way and our key players did not perform as they can. People were expecting an easy win for us, but football is not like that and the Championship is not like that.
"It was a poor performance. Sometimes there is more pressure for the players in facing a struggling side than in big games and we didn't deal with it today."
It was an impressive display from City, who were managed by John Pemberton and Under-21 coach Wade Elliott following Steve Cotterill's sacking on Thursday.
Pemberton, who had been assistant to Cotterill, said: "The feeling in the dressing room was one of relief. It has been a very difficult week because we lost a good man and a good manager.
"The response from the players was unbelievable and we fully deserved to win. With all due respect to Middlesbrough, we were the better team.
"We had only one day to work with the players and tried to keep things as simple as possible. We tried a different formation, with three Bristol lads in the team, and it all worked well.
"I don't know how long Wade and I will be in charge, but if it's a week or month or a year there will be no problems from me.
"I would definitely like to stay at the club, but in what capacity I don't know. If it is the best interests of the club, I would consider becoming manager."
