Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka admits he feared the sack earlier this season.

The Spaniard is now the second longest-serving foreign coach in England behind Arsene Wenger and only four Premier League bosses have been in employment at their current club for longer.

Karanka said: "It is always difficult to look too far into the long term. If we had lost to Arsenal, Bournemouth and Manchester City, what would have happened to me?

"I don't know. If results are bad we know what is possible.

"Sometimes, when things are going well, it is all down to the club and the players. When it isn't going well, it is the coach.

"Being the fifth longest-serving manager (in the Premier League) after three years is a reflection of how tough it is. But I am so lucky with the chairman I have here.

"The reason I came in 2013 was because the team was not good enough for everything else we have. Steve Gibson told me, 'We have the facilities, the stadium and the crowd. Now we want a team to fit'.

"Even then, I knew this was the place for me, the right club to start my managerial career."