McClaren eyeing route into Europe

Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren has urged his players to make the most of their best chance to lift a trophy and secure a third successive season of European football.

They face a Carling Cup quarter-final against Blackburn tonight, with memories still fresh of their triumph in the competition in 2004.

That ended a long wait for silverware and allowed Boro a route into Europe. A year later and they returned to the UEFA Cup via the Barclays Premiership.

Boro are fighting battles on four fronts – the league, the two domestic cup competitions and the UEFA Cup – but McClaren knows tonight’s game against Rovers represents a glorious opportunity.

“It took us 38 games and a last-second penalty save to get into Europe for this season; this competition is six games,” he said.

“We are one game away from a semi-final. It’s a big game for this football club, a big game for the players, and we are treating it as such.

“We enjoy it because we have won it before. Anyone who was there on that day has an affection now for the Carling Cup and what it has brought to this football club.

“It’s the platform from which we have sprung forward and got into Europe two years running, and we are certainly enjoying the experience.

“We are one game away from a semi-final – anything can happen in semi-finals - so it’s a big game for us.”

Boro go into the game prospering in the cup competitions but struggling to deliver in the league, where they lie 13th after an indifferent run of results.

Inconsistency has been McClaren’s major worry, and Sunday’s 3-3 draw with Tottenham, in which they led twice, was a case in point.

“We are inconsistent and erratic at the present moment,” said McClaren.

“Sunday summed our season up. We played some great football and scored goals, but because of three individual errors we couldn’t play out a game we should have got three points from.

“In the cups it is one-off games and, on our day, we are capable of beating anybody, as we have shown not just in the Carling Cup but in Europe as well.”

A crowd of 27,614 watched Sunday’s game – the second of four inside 11 days at the Riverside Stadium – but tonight’s attendance is expected to be nearer the 9,436 who turned out for the UEFA Cup victory over Litex Lovech.

That is a source of disappointment to the club, but McClaren insists it will not affect his players.

“Of course it’s not ideal,” he said. “As a player, as a coach, you want to put on a spectacle and you want a full house for that, but I understand, especially at this time around Christmas when we have got four home games on the bounce.

“It’s very difficult and you have to prioritise – but this is a very, very important game to this football club and one we are going all out to win.”

Defender Chris Riggott returns from suspension and midfielder James Morrison has a chance of making the squad despite being stretchered from the field unconscious at the weekend after an accidental kick in the face from Robbie Keane.

“It’s certainly not improved his boyish looks,” said McClaren. “He’s got a big shiner and a big nose, but he’s recovering well and hopefully he’ll be okay.”