Friday 15 May 2015 07:22, UK
Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka is determined to qualify for the play-off final by beating Brentford in the second leg.
Boro secured a 2-1 win over the Bees at Griffin Park in the first leg but Karanka will resist the temptation to try and secure a clash at Wembley against either Norwich or Ipswich by shutting the visitors out.
The Spaniard said: "I said after the first game that we have done nothing. We have to go to the pitch thinking it will be a difficult game. They are a very good team and we have to be focused from the first minute.
"This kind of game anything can happen, we could score, they could score, we are one goal up but we have to play as though the score is 0-0.
"I don't know how to arrange a draw, we have to go to the pitch thinking that we have to win the game."
The mind games have been in full swing after Brentford's Harlee Dean insisted they were they better team and dismissed Boro by saying: "Set pieces and counter-attacks is all they have got."
Responding to Dean's statement, Karanka added: "That's his point of view, I have to respect that.
"If we are winning the games it is because this team has an amazing spirit. If he thinks that we score from counter-attacks and set pieces, I prefer to say that the team is in this position because they have a great spirit and they are very good lads.
"I've said so many times there were a lot of squads better than ours, but we have the best team. They are friends and they support each other.
"Maybe they (Brentford) don't know that spirit. If he thinks that, I have to respect it."
Watch the second leg of the Sky Bet Championship tie between Middlesbrough and Brentford on Friday. Coverage begins on Sky Sports 1 HD at 7.30pm.
