No change in Boro Cup policy

Middlesbrough’s dream of winning the Carling Cup for a second time in three years means they will not fall into the trap of fielding a weakened side against Crystal Palace tonight.

A place in the quarter-finals is up for grabs at the Riverside and with another trip to the Millennium Stadium just four matches away, Boro want to seize their opportunity.

Assistant manager Steve Round said: “It is a very important game for us. We discovered when winning the Carling Cup two years ago that winning a trophy gives the whole club a massive push forward.

“It put us into the UEFA Cup for the first time and we were able to finish high enough in the league last season to qualify for Europe again.

“So we are going into this competition very seriously and we want to win the tie. The manager will be fielding a very strong team.”

Boro received plenty of criticism from fans on Teesside last year when McClaren made changes when defending their trophy in a fourth round tie and were beaten 2-0 at Liverpool.

Round said: “We felt we fielded a side at Liverpool which was good enough to win the game and we did have a perfectly good goal by Bolo Zenden disallowed before they scored their first.

“Even then Joseph-Desire Job hit the post and the ball bounced back into their keeper’s hands before Liverpool broke upfield to score. So in this respect things have not changed. We will be fielding a side which we believe is capable of beating Palace.”

Even so, Round stressed Boro have no intention of under-estimating the Coca-Cola Championship side.

He said: “I know Iain Dowie well because I did my UEFA professional licence with him. He has an excellent professional approach and makes sure he has his teams highly organised and motivated.

“Iain will make sure they come here looking to win.”

Boro are looking to bounce back from the disappointment of a 2-2 home draw against West Brom in the Barclays Premiership on Sunday.

Influential Spanish midfielder Gaizka Mendieta is definitely unavailable having missed the last three matches with a calf strain but Ugo Ehiogu is expected to return at the back, with midfielder Doriva and striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink also set for recalls.

“We have learned from last year. The squad is bigger now, and the young players have another year’s experience under their belts, so any changes we make now to freshen things up do not affect the overall strength of the side,” added Round.

Boro are expected to announce what action they are to take on Abel Xavier, who has appealed against his 18-month ban imposed for testing positive for an anabolic steroid.

The 32-year-old became the first Premiership player to be found to have taken performance-enhancing drugs when a routine test showed the presence of methandienone, also known as dianabol, a steroid mainly used by body-builders.

Round said: “Our chief executive Keith Lamb is likely to make a statement over the next 24 hours.”