Fulham 4 Middlesbrough 3: Karanka says he was forced to take gamble

A Bournemouth victory at home to Bolton tonight will effectively consign the Teesside club to the play-offs.

Konstantopoulos came charging upfield in the hope of completing an astonshing comeback after Boro had recovered from falling 3-1 behind to level.

But the ball was cleared and former Leeds United striker Ross McCormack, who had already scored two penalties, completed his hat-trick by finding the unguarded net.

Karanka, when asked if he had given Konstantopoulos the signal to go up front, said: “Yes, because I felt that one point wasn’t enough and we needed three points.”

He added: “When you take a risk and you concede a goal, the following day you can say that it was because you took a risk. But the problem with not taking a risk is that you will never know what would have happened if you did.”

Fulham took the lead in first half-stoppage time through Michael Turner’s corner, doubling it when McCormack scored a penalty after being fouled by Daniel Ayala.

Substitute Adam Reach immediately pulled one back, only for George Friend to concede another penalty, fouling Hugo Rodallega and earning a red card.

McCormack converted again but Ayala’s header made it 3-2 and another substitute, Kike, levelled with just a minute left.

Fulham: Bettinelli, Hoogland, Hutchinson, Turner, Richards, Tunnicliffe, Guthrie (Fofana 76), Kavanagh, Ruiz (Woodrow 81), Rodallega (Smith 88), McCormack. Unused substitutes: Kiraly, Roberts, Voser, Burn.

Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Fredericks (Reach 61), Ayala, Gibson, Friend, Clayton (Forshaw 61), Leadbitter, Adomah, Vossen (Garcia 61), Tomlin, Bamford. Unused substitutes: Tiendalli, Ripley, Whitehead, Nsue.

Referee: K Friend (Leicestershire).