AITOR KARANKA last night assumed responsibility for Middlesbrough’s dramatic downturn in form, and admitted he will spend the next few days attempting to identify the cause of the club’s current slump.

George Friend’s last-gasp own goal condemned Boro to a 1-0 defeat at Cardiff City that means they have now taken just one point from their last three Championship matches.

Having been second at kick-off, the Teessiders now find themselves in sixth position in the table, seven points adrift of surprise league leaders Brighton.

They have gone more than three games without scoring, and while they might have been somewhat unfortunate to lose last night’s game given the way in which they dominated possession for long spells, their sudden lack of a cutting edge is an alarming development.

“We are not scoring because we are not playing in the way we like to play,” said Karanka. “That is my problem, and I have to work out why it is happening. With the players that we have, it is difficult to understand. It is my fault, and my job to work out why.

“This is the third game where we have not scored, and with the players we have, we have to know what is happening.

“That can happen in this league - they just had one or two chances, but they won the game. I didn’t think we deserved to lose the game, but we have to keep on going because we have a very good squad with very good players.”

Boro’s best two chances fell to Albert Adomah, but his first-half header was well saved by David Marshall and he shot tamely at the Cardiff goalkeeper in the second half after a rare mistake from the home side enabled him to break clear.

The game looked to be drifting to a stalemate as it entered its final three minutes, but a penalty box scramble involving Sammy Ameobi, Joe Mason and Stuart O’Keefe ended with Friend deflecting the ball past Dimi Konstantopoulos.

Boro’s next game takes them to Wolves on Saturday, and while Karanka is likely to shuffle his starting line-up in an attempt to elicit an improvement, he will not be panicking despite the ongoing poor run.

“I always expect us to create chances when we have the players that we have on the pitch,” he said. “They are the players who I wanted, and who I believe in. They are the players I want to coach. For that reason, I believe in them and I am sure this moment is going to change. We have a very good squad.

“It can change quickly. I believe in this team. In the same way that we were playing well and now we are not playing so well, so we can change things again. Hopefully, as soon as possible.”

Friend could do little about his late mishap, which felt all the more unjust given that it came on probably the only occasion all night when Boro’s goalmouth came under sustained pressure.

“It is normal to have a lot of people in the box like that,” said Karanka. “I have told them that we have to clear the ball as well as we can. With a lot of people, it can be difficult for the keepers with rebounds and things like that. But we just have to forget about it now and learn.”