ALMOST twelve months into his first managerial reign you could say things are going pretty well for Aitor Karanka, but the Middlesbrough head coach insists he will never stop learning when it comes to the Championship.

Karanka will celebrate one year in charge on Teesside next month having turned a team struggling in the lower reaches of the second tier to one tipped to be in the promotion mix at the end of the season.

Progress has been steady under the Spaniard, who has undoubtedly strengthened the squad he inherited from Tony Mowbray and they now lie third in the table going into this afternoon’s game with second-placed Watford at the Riverside Stadium.

Boro tasted defeat for the first since August when they lost 2-0 at Wolves midweek in a type of performance that has become part of their fabric this season.

There has been the occasional blip against the likes of Reading, Sheffield Wednesday and Blackpool – teams they would perhaps expect to beat – but they have also taken points from games when they haven’t been at their best.

Karanka is well aware of the unpredictable nature of the Championship, though, but even though his side are sitting in the top three the Spaniard is refusing to rest of his laurels.

“The Championship is how I expected it to be,” he admitted. “I’m curious, because I am new.

“The people working here always come to me after the games and say ‘hey, the scores were strange today.’

“I have been here 11 months but there are people who have been here 20 years and they are always surprised by the results in this league.

“I have said many times that I am still learning every single minute because, imagine, if I think I know everything in just 11 months I am dead.

“So I need to learn every single day about the management, about the tactics, about the club, about the people working here, about everything.

“I chose to be a manager and I am very, very happy doing this job.”

Karanka was honest enough to admit he deserved a share of the blame for Tuesday night’s defeat at Molineux.

The Boro boss criticised his own team selection, but admits he will have to accept there will be bad days at the office along the way.

“The first thing I do after games whether we have won or lost is to go to my office and critique the performance,” Karanka said.

“I always try to take the positives from the games, but also the things we can improve on.

“After the (Wolves) game I had a meeting with the players and one of them apologised because he said it was his fault.

“I told him it wasn’t his fault, it was the team’s fault, because when we lose one game it is not just one person’s fault. The team wins together and they lose together.

“I always want to transmit my thoughts because I am the first one who wants to have a team (spirit).

“If one player makes a foul the whole team fouls so if we lose one game it's bad news for everybody.

“I recognise that I made a mistake but we have to forget that and think about the Watford game and I have to choose the right players.”

Boro will look to bounce back from defeat against the Hornets and Karanka is encouraged the fact his team have responded well in previous defeats.

He said: “I am confident because this team, especially this season, has always had a good reaction when we have had a bad game.

“It happened in pre-season when we lost our first game against a little team in Spain. We won the next game 5-0.

“We had a very good reaction after the Blackpool game when everybody that thought we were bad. The reaction against Fulham was brilliant and now I am confident they can do that against Watford.”