Thursday 15 September 2016 15:12, UK
Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka has warned his players they cannot continue to make crucial mistakes when they face Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Boro lost 2-1 at home to Crystal Palace last weekend, as Christian Benteke - with his first goal for Palace - and Wilfried Zaha scored either side of Daniel Ayala's goal at the Riverside Stadium.
Everton, in contrast, recovered from a lacklustre first half to win 3-0 at Sunderland as Romelu Lukaku scored a hat-trick on Monday Night Football.
Karanka's task is to help his side rediscover the form that saw them go unbeaten in their opening three Premier League fixtures.
"I've given the players a tough week in training. Collectively, they can't make mistakes like they did last week," the Spaniard said.
"I don't want to blame just one or two players. They have learned a lot in the past week, they've learned a harsh lesson.
"We have no midweek games or distractions so it gives us longer to sort things out. In the Championship, we just went straight back out there."
Karanka is understandably wary of the threat posed by Belgium international Lukaku, who preceded his one-man demolition of Sunderland with two goals for Belgium in their 3-0 win away to Cyprus in the World Cup Qualifiers.
"I was at Sunderland on Monday and saw his hat-trick with concern," he added.
"He's very similar to Benteke and we made mistakes against him last week so we need to learn.
"We can't let him turn or give him free headers - we need to do enough to put him off without giving away penalties.
"But overall [I am] pleased with the way things have started, five points from four games is a good start. We need to make sure we don't panic."
Karanka also offered his support to defender George Friend, who was at fault for both goals against Palace, albeit in a rather unusual way.
"He is the son every mother wants; he's the husband every wife wants.
"He's done amazingly to move here from Doncaster who were on their way to League One, to now be playing Premier League football."
