AITOR KARANKA hopes that one of the best pieces of advice he has received since taking over at Middlesbrough will backfire on Robert Martinez in the Capital One Cup quarter-final at a sell-out Riverside Stadium tonight.

A full-house is expected for Boro’s intriguing battle with Premier League opposition, the first time Karanka has gone head-to-head with his compatriot since accepting the job two years ago.

The Spaniards, who only met face-to-face for the first time last month, have developed a football friendship since Martinez sent the Boro boss a ‘welcome to England’ letter after succeeding Tony Mowbray.

Karanka soon made contact with the Everton boss, appreciating how his fellow Spaniard had adjusted to these shores since moving to Wigan as a midfielder in 1995. One of Martinez’s suggestions will be with the Middlesbrough coach when Everton head to the North-East tonight looking to edge closer to winning the competition for the first time in the Merseyside club’s history.

Karanka said: “He is a person I have to thank a lot. He was the first one who I was speaking with when I arrived here. He helped me a lot because at the beginning it was difficult for me. I had a conversation with him and that conversation helped me to improve and settle in here. He is a good example for me and he is the mirror I am looking at.

“I remember one thing he said to me. We were playing against Hull City in the cup and he told me, ‘I know in Spain teams don’t put out their best teams in the cup because it is not as important as the league, but here in England it is different’. I was thinking of playing other players.

“He said if the players feel the manager can bring them something, they are always going to follow you. At the time it was difficult for me because I tried to change a few things and results didn’t arrive. But I kept working in the same way because I had that conversation with him.”

Martinez has developed his managerial skills from leading Swansea in 2007, and has done well to become one of the most highly-rated managers in the English game.

But he thinks the first rung is crucial on the manager’s ladder and feels Karanka has taken on the ideal job to take on his own challenge in frontline management.

“On my first day, Roberto sent me a letter to say welcome and congratulations. He told me I had arrived to the best place to be a coach. After two years, he was completely right!” said Karanka.

He added: “We speak the same language and that same language is football. He arrived here 20 years ago and I have always followed him because I thought he was doing a very interesting thing here.

“He has built himself. He speaks English perfectly. He was always a good example for me. He knows everything and is much more experienced than me.”

After Middlesbrough’s memorable penalty shoot-out victory over Manchester United in the previous round, Karanka is wary of complacency ahead of the visit of the Toffees. He has no fresh injury problems and Grant Leadbitter back from suspension.

He said: “That would be our biggest mistake, to think that because we beat Manchester City and Manchester United and we played very well against Liverpool and Arsenal that this game will be easy.

“If we had a really good performance against those teams it was because we were working for more than 90 minutes, fighting and working a lot.

“We are close to the top of the table and we beat Manchester United in the last round and we play at home against Everton and I am feeling the atmosphere of a little bit of over-confidence and that would be a big mistake.

“Over-confidence, because I can feel the atmosphere in the changing room, the crowd, everybody is really excited.”

Middlesbrough’s main aim is promotion to the Premier League but Karanka will name a strong team despite a trip to Ipswich to come on Friday. He feels continuing the cup run will help the Championship cause.

Karanka said: “Our test was Hull and we lost the game. Our test will be Ipswich on Friday. Our test of the Premier League will be if one day we are in the Premier League. Now we are in the Championship and we have to test ourselves with Championship teams. At the moment we couldn’t beat Derby, Hull, so our test is the big teams in this league.

“But motivation is always high when you have games like this. Everybody is expecting to play. This season we have enough players to make changes, unlike when we had cup games last season. I knew last year we would have problems but not this year. I think it is a good motivation for everybody.”

Boro: Mejias; Nsue, Ayala, Gibson, Friend; Leadbitter, Zuculini; Adomah, Downing, Stuani; Kike

Middlesbrough fans are planning a poignant tribute tonight to BBC commentator Ali Brownlee after "The Voice of the Boro" was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

Brownlee has commentated on the Boro for 33 years and a tribute is planned for the 33rd minute of the Capital One Cup quarter-final against Everton at the Riverside.

Several fan groups on Facebook are uniting behind the planned tribute to the BBC Tees commentator who will soon begin chemotherapy in a bid to beat bowel cancer.

The game is on television and the message to fans is to light up their phones and sing in tribute to Ali on the 33rd minute.

One of the organisers, in a message to The Northern Echo, said: "It will show how united Teesside is with Ali during his own personal fight."

Boro fans sang "Ali Brownlee - he's one of our own" during the 2-0 win at Huddersfield at the weekend.

That prompted Brownlee to tweet: "What can I say? Few times have I been reduced to tears but the support from the Boro fans has been so emotional for me. Thank you."