AITOR KARANKA has urged his Middlesbrough players to forget about the memories of Tuesday night’s epic penalty drama in the Capital One Cup at Anfield by returning to Championship duty with a bang.

Boro have no fresh injury problems ahead of the trip to Charlton on Saturday but the head coach is likely to change a few things because of the strains the spot-kicks defeat to Liverpool had on his squad.

Both Patrick Bamford and Jelle Vossen are two of the most likely starters at the Valley, having only emerged in the latter stages of the Liverpool tie, but there is likely to be a few more too.

But Karanka, whose side sit fifth in the Championship after winning three games in a row before cup duty, is keen for his players to continue their impressive league form against the Addicks.

He said: “For me the Liverpool game has gone. The most important thing for me is the league. We have a very big game at Charlton and our worst opponent on Saturday can be ourselves. It’s another test for them.

“We are a team, when we play like we want to, who will not lose. We were close to defeating Liverpool and I want to feel the same things at Charlton as I did last Tuesday. I know it is not easy; it is difficult, because it is not Liverpool we are facing but we need to go there to win the game.”

Prior to the three league wins in a row, Middlesbrough lost back-to-back home dates so Karanka does not want to see his players lost focus after the drama at Anfield.

His players were only put through a light training session today before setting off for London.

Karanka said: “We have had a recovery session. I need to think about the players, we had 120 minutes, the pressure that such a game brings, the mentality, and it was a very hard game, so I have to consider all of these things when I pick the team.

“I need to think about the team selection, I need to see how they all are. It’s key that we find consistency. I said after the Reading game that I was worried because we lost our consistency.

“Now we are playing consistently, we have a lot of players who can score goals which helps too. We are not conceding goals – except the two at Anfield – and we are scoring goals, that’s the perfect scenario. We have to try to work in the same intensity.”