Friday 26 December 2014 19:23, UK
Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka admits his players are not used to playing in front of big crowds as the Riverside saw its biggest gate in five years.
An attendance of 32,277 saw Boro cruise to a 3-0 victory against 10-man Nottingham Forest, who have now gone five games without a win.
Goals from George Friend, Jelle Vossen and Grant Leadbitter saw the Teessiders bounce back from their defeat to Ipswich last weekend to remain fourth in the Sky Bet Championship.
"It's my second Boxing Day here and both of them have been brilliant for me," said Karanka.
"It's good for us because it was a difficult game. My players are used to playing in front of 12, 14, 16,000 people.
"I don't think many of them are used to playing in front of 32,000 people and in that kind of atmosphere.
"So they did very well. We finished the first half much better than we started. At the end of the game, I'm very pleased because I wanted a good reaction after the Ipswich game.
"I was also pleased because all the fans have come. They can go home happy."
A tight first half produced no goals as both sides passed the ball around well, but Boro started to open Forest up after the break.
The opening goal finally came in the 54th minute when Friend leaped high to head Leadbitter's corner beyond Forest goalkeeper Karl Darlow for his first goal of the season.
Forest centre back Kelvin Wilson was then sent off in the 63rd minute for a second yellow after tackling Kike from behind.
Vossen added the second in the 79th minute, finishing off a fine move with a thumping finish, and Leadbitter completed the scoring in the 87th minute from the spot after Patrick Bamford was tripped by Darlow in the box.
Forest boss Stuart Pearce was upset with his side's defending in the second half and revealed their current run has left the team deflated.
"At this moment in time, as a club, we're shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit," he said.
"We had a foothold in the game and limited Middlesbrough to not too many chances in the first half. But sloppy defending from a corner has cost us.
"We're just suffering with a lack of confidence and composure on the ball at the moment.
"We were hoping to come here and hurt Boro on the break and we had opportunities to do that but couldn't find that killer pass.
"We lacked that composure and it's hurting us quite badly at the moment.
"Everyone's hurting in our dressing room. We have to come out, roll our sleeves up, myself included, and make sure we deliver a performance in front of our own fans on Sunday."
