Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson has claimed that former manager Aitor Karanka "sacrificed himself" and believes that the "tired" Spaniard will be "relieved" to have lost his job.

Karanka left his head coach role at the Riverside Stadium on Thursday with his side second-bottom of the Premier League with 10 games to go, with reports suggesting that he was sacked.

Gibson, however, told The Times: "I've had a lot of discussions with Aitor since the weekend. We agreed that a different approach is required.

"Aitor is tired, he has worked so hard for our football club over the last three and half years and the tension surrounding the end of last season would have taken its toll on anyone. Then we had a very busy summer.

"He was working his socks off trying to bring players in and he hasn't really had a break since the minute he walked through the door. What we concluded - he and I - was that he perhaps wasn't the guy at this point in time to deliver that change.

"I know people are cynical when you say that a decision was mutual, but he wasn't sacked. He sacrificed himself. He's in a good frame of mind. I think he's relieved. He has been enormous for our club. He has progressed us and he will have learned an enormous amount from this experience."

Up next for Boro is a Premier League fixture at home to Manchester United on Sunday.