McLaren not affected by England saga

MIDDLESBROUGH boss Steve McClaren insists he has not been affected by the England management saga as he prepares for the biggest match of his career to date.

The 44-year-old will lead his Boro side into tonight’s crunch UEFA Cup semi-final, second leg clash against Steaua Bucharest having occupied most of the back pages for several weeks.

However, with decision day apparently looming at Soho Square, one of the leading candidates to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson is adamant that all he has been concentrating on is the task of reaching a major final with his club.

That feat eluded him on Sunday when Boro went down 1-0 to West Ham in the FA Cup semi-final, and the bitter taste of defeat is not something he intends to sample again tonight.

“It’s honestly not difficult at all,” he said. “This speculation, the hype about England and about Middlesbrough, I’ve lived with this for five years.

“It’s heightened now, obviously, because of the vacancy, but there’s no added pressure, there are no distractions. You just get on with your job and make sure you concentrate on that because that’s the main focus for me and this football club.

“We find ourselves with an opportunity of getting to the UEFA Cup final, something that against Xanthi in our first game in Europe this year we would never have dreamt of.

“But we are there and amid all the speculation and all the hype and intensity on my profile and the club’s profile, we are still managing to win football matches.

“Hopefully, we will win tonight as well.”

That, however, will take a monumental effort even for a Boro side who produced an almost miraculous performance to squeeze past Swiss side Basle in the last round.

A 4-1 victory at the Riverside Stadium – the final goal coming in the last minute of the game – overturned a 3-0 aggregate deficit.

And although the Teessiders trail only 1-0 to Cosmin Olaroiu’s men, they showed enough at the Lia Manoliu Stadium last week to demonstrate they will be a major threat.

Steaua will be without suspended duo Banel Nicolita and Sorin Paraschiv, but they could recall star striker Victorias Iakob after his return from long-term injury.

McClaren, meanwhile, will hand Brad Jones the task of deputising for goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who fractured his cheekbone on Sunday, although it could once again be his frontmen who could prove the difference between success and failure.

Mark Viduka, who has missed the last two games with a thigh problem, is back in training and McClaren is hopeful the Australian will be able to play some role.

Skipper Gareth Southgate will be a key figure tonight and McClaren has dismissed talk of unrest in the ranks after the 35-year-old suggested in an interview at the weekend that, among other things, his manager was not yet ready for the England job.

McClaren said: “I haven’t seen them (Southgate’s comments). Somebody made me aware of that and Gareth did, and I just said, ‘It’s not an issue’.

“I’ve not read it, I don’t want to read it. We know what we have in this football club, the relationship I have with Gareth and what he brings to this football club.

“Nothing comes between that and us wanting to win football matches. That’s the sole purpose of our relationship.”