Middlesbrough 1 West Ham 3: There are things we can fix, says Aitor Karanka

West Hams Andy Carroll celebrates scoring his second goal against Middlesbrough (Picture: Richard Sellers/PA).

MIDDLESBROUGH head coach Aitor Karanka took issue with home supporters after they had urged his side to get the ball forward early during the loss to West Ham United.

But the Portuguese said he could not fault his team’s efforts.

Karanka said: “I said after Watford it had been a good game to watch and I think this was a good game to watch, but no good for us.

“I am really proud of the players because once again they are doing their best every single training session, every single game, and they have to keep going.

“Obviously when you concede from a set-piece there are things you can fix, and especially when they have seen on the videos how good (two-goal Andy) Carroll is in the air. But again, I don’t think it’s a day to blame someone because we win as a team and we lose as a team.”

Carroll, meanwhile, saluted the team spirit that has united the West Ham dressing room in the wake of Dimitri Payet’s plea to leave the club.

The Hammers were rocked by the news that their star man wanted to go earlier this month, but Slaven Bilic’s side have responded by putting together back-to-back Premier League victories over Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough without him.

Carroll scored a stunning volley in a 3-0 defeat of Palace and then helping himself to a double on Saturday as his side claimed victory at the Riverside Stadium to dispel memories of a difficult start to the campaign.

The 28-year-old striker said: “I think the lads have come together even stronger recently with everything that’s going on and you can see on the pitch everyone is working together, putting the grit in and that’s when the points come.”

Carroll opened the scoring with a thunderous ninth-minute header from Manuel Lanzini’s corner, and after Cristhian Stuani had levelled, struck again from close range when goalkeeper Victor Valdes could only parry Michail Antonio’s powerfully-struck shot. Substitute Jonathan Calleri completed the job in stoppage-time with his first goal for the club, a shot which deflected in off Adam Clayton, but not before former Newcastle and Liverpool man Carroll had limped off with a groin problem.

Middlesbrough: Valdes, Chambers, Bernardo, Gibson, Friend, Clayton, de Roon, Forshaw (Gestede 83), Traore, Negredo, Stuani (Bamford 81). Unused substitutes: Da Silva, Leadbitter, Fischer, Guzan, Downing.

West Ham United: Randolph, Byram, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Noble (Fernandes 54), Obiang, Feghouli (Collins 83), Lanzini, Antonio, Carroll (Calleri 67). Unused substitutes: Adrian, Fletcher, Oxford, Quina.

Referee: M Atkinson (W Yorkshire).