Depleted Boro call on youngsters

Steve McClaren today jetted out for his side’s first European tie on the continent without six of his major stars.

Boro take a 3-0 advantage into the second leg of their UEFA Cup first round clash against Czech champions Banik Ostrava at the Bazaly Stadium tomorrow.

But McClaren’s squad has been hit by injuries on the eve of their history-making trip, with Michael Reiziger, Mark Viduka, Joseph-Desire Job, Ugo Ehiogu, Chris Riggott and Ray Parlour all absent.

It meant McClaren naming seven teenagers in his squad, with six of them members of last season’s FA Youth Cup-winning team.

Anthony Peacock, David Wheater, Tony McMahon, Andrew Taylor, Matthew Bates and James Morrison were all included in the 20-man party and expected to figure on the substitutes’ bench.

At least McClaren was able to call on Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink, Gaizka Mendieta and Szilard Nemeth, with the trio apparently fit despite recently injury problems.

Holland international Hasselbaink required 10 stitches in a head wound sustained during Saturday’s 1-0 Riverside defeat to Chelsea, a game in which he also sustained a slight hamstring strain which resulted in him missing training yesterday.

Nemeth was forced to sit out the game against Jose Mourinho’s Blues due to a stomach upset, and if passed fit is likely to play up front alongside Hasselbaink in the absence of Viduka due to a hamstring problem.

For former Spain international Mendieta, his return is a welcome one for McClaren who has been without the midfielder for the last four matches due to a calf strain.