Saturday 3 January 2015 21:09, UK
Middlesbrough head coach Aitor Karanka played down talk of him becoming Newcastle United's new manager after his side's 2-0 win over Barnsley in the FA Cup third round.
Speaking after Boro booked their place in the next round through two second-half goals, Karanka was quick to dismiss any suggestion that he might replace the recently-released Alan Pardew at St James' Park.
On the speculation linking him with the managerial vacancy, Karanka said: "It is a surprise to me."
And when asked if he was committed to Middlesbrough, he said: "120 per cent."
Strikes from Jelle Vossen and Daniel Ayala saw Boro through but Karanka felt his men made hard work of Danny Wilson's side.
He added: "The main thing is to get through though so the work is done.
"I'd have been happier if we'd scored our chances. We have to improve and keep concentrating.
"We could have been four or five up at half-time. If we'd have scored earlier it would have been different."
On the injury to Rhys Williams, who went off in the opening few minutes after making his first start in almost a year, Karanka said: "The worst thing today is a serious injury to Rhys. I wish him all the best. He'll have a scan and we will know more."
Barnsley manager Wilson said of being knocked out of the FA Cup: "Of course I'm disappointed. We'd set a certain game-plan up to frustrate them because they're a very good side.
"They had some chances in the first half and there were a couple of good saves from Ross (Turnbull), but we did stifle them.
"In the second half, the disappointing thing from my point of view is that the two goals we did concede were sloppy."
Wilson, who had remained optimistic despite being a goal behind when Boro went down to 10 men through Clayton's sending off, added: "I thought at 1-0 we were still in the game and then we conceded, which killed us off, really.
"We had some very good situations that just petered away because of a loose pass. That's an area we've got to really work on.
"They're a very good side and you can see them challenging right to the death."
