We deserved the win, says Karanka

Cape Town - Aitor Karanka was left proud of his Middlesbrough side following their 1-0 win over Hull City at the Riverside Stadium on Monday night.

Gaston Ramirez scored the only goal of the game as he headed home on the hour mark.

The result left Boro in 13th place with 15 points from 12 games, with the Tigers in 19th spot on 11 points, just two above bottom-side Swansea City.

After the match, the former Real Madrid assistant boss told the club's website that his team is steadily improving.

He said: "I think we deserved the win.

"We had a lot of chances, we had a lot of possession and finally, we got the goal.

"Then when we scored, we showed our experience and managed the game well.

"I am really proud of the team because every Premier League game is different and difficult.”

Karanka also praised Ramirez, who spent a season on loan at Hull during the 2014/15 season, but acknowledged that it is very much a team effort at the newly-promoted club.

The manager added: "Gaston is an important player. But we are in this position because of all of them.

"Playing the way we have in the last five or six games, that is how we will go forward.

"We are a recently-promoted team. We’ve done nothing yet and in the Premier League you can’t be complacent.

"The best way to add experience is winning and adding points. Now we are up to 15 and we have to keep going."

Middlesbrough next face a trip to the St. Mary's Stadium on Sunday where they will face Southampton where a win would see them leap-frog the Saints into 12th place on the standings.

Kick off is at 16:15.