AITOR Karanka has revealed the Middlesbrough squad is desperate to beat Reading on Saturday and dedicate a win to injured team-mate Rhys Williams.

Boro travel to the Madjeski Stadium without the Australian defender, who suffered another serious Achilles injury in last weekend’s FA Cup third round win at Barnsley.

It was the defender’s first competitive start for 12 months, but he now faces another lengthy spell on the sidelines.

The Teessiders resume league action following their cup exploits last week and Karanka, who has refused to put a timescale on his return, has urged his players to get a result in dedication to Williams.

The Northern Echo:

“Rhys is bad, he is sad but I felt he was stronger this time than after the first (injury),” Karanka said.

“It's not in the same place so I felt he was stronger, he knows what he has to do in the future and he knows the club is behind him and supporting him.

“It's the same tendon but not in the same place. I have to say our medical staff worked really well because the danger was doing it again in the same place.

“The doctor who did the first operation can understand what has happened. It's a coincidence and in a different place.

“The squad wants to win the game to dedicate it to (Rhys). They all know how difficult it has been for him, the last eight or nine months, and now it's the same again. All of us want to dedicate him the game on Saturday.”

Karanka is also without the suspended Adam Clayton following his red card at Oakwell.

Ryan Fredericks, Damia Abella and Mustapha Carayol remain sidelined, while Emilio Nsue is on African Cup of Nations duty with Equatorial Guinea.

Karanka was named on a four-man shortlist for The Sky Bet Football League’s December Manager of the Month alongside Eddie Howe, Mick McCarthy and Slavisa Jokanovic, but the head coach admits the team’s position in the league isn’t solely down to him He said: “I couldn't be in this nomination without my players and staff and everyone working with me.

“I'm very pleased because it's good for us, but it's not just me.”