This is The North East | Sport | Football

AS they prepare to play their 22nd cup game of the season this evening, Steve McClaren has warned his Middlesbrough players their efforts will count for nothing if they fail to lift a trophy in the final four weeks of the campaign.

With a place in the last four of the UEFA Cup already booked, McClaren's men will be hoping to make it two semi-finals in the space of four days when they entertain Charlton in an FA Cup quarter-final replay tonight.

The euphoria that accompanied last week's sensational European comeback against Basle is refusing to fade, with next week's trip to Steaua Bucharest representing Boro's first appearance in the semi-finals of a continental competition.

Things are equally rosy on the domestic stage, with the FA Cup draw having kept the Teessiders away from both Chelsea and Liverpool and recent wins over Manchester City and Bolton having made Premiership survival all but certain.

McClaren accepts his side have enjoyed a marvellous month but, while others have been quick to pat his players on the back, the Boro boss is adopting a far more pragmatic viewpoint.

Nothing has been won yet and as the England number two is only too aware, there is nothing more fickle than footballing fortune.

"We haven't achieved anything," said McClaren, who will welcome Gareth Southgate, Stewart Downing and Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink back into his squad after the trio all missed last weekend's 2-1 defeat to Newcastle.

"Luckily, there is enough experience in that dressing room to realise that.

"I was pleased to hear Jimmy say as much after the Basle game. His words epitomised my feelings.

"It was a great night full of great drama, but we have not won a trophy yet. We won a football match and got through to the semi-finals of a European competition.

"But all it has done is give us an opportunity to win something. The FA Cup is another opportunity and, as I have stressed to the players, you don't get many of them in your career. You have to take your opportunities when they come along.

"We define success as winning a trophy this season. I'm not saying that it's going to be a disaster if we don't win something, but we have proved by winning the Carling Cup that we are capable of lifting silverware.

"We know what's it's like to win a trophy. We've been all the way in a competition before, so there's no reason why we can't do so again."

While Boro have blazed a trail with a series of eye-catching displays in Europe, their progress in the FA Cup has been rather more sedate.

Replay wins over Nuneaton and Coventry hardly hogged the headlines, before a 2-0 victory over Preston set up a quarter-final clash at the Valley.

The resultant goalless draw was something of a non-event but, if the Teessiders were to complete the job at the second time of asking tonight, this month's semi-final with West Ham would be a considerably more momentous affair.

With either Chelsea or Liverpool guaranteed to make the final, victory in that game would almost certainly secure a spot in next season's UEFA Cup, an achievement that is essential if Middlesbrough are to continue to attract some of Europe's leading players this summer.

"The FA Cup is very important in that respect," said McClaren.

"At the moment, we are only two games away from Europe and I always say that, if you get into Europe, it has been a good season.

"We have attracted players here over the last couple of years, and one of the attractions for those players has been playing in Europe.

"Getting into Europe would help us in terms of signing players and it would also help us keep players like George (Boateng) and Jimmy."

Winning the UEFA Cup would also guarantee more European football - the FA could request an additional place from UEFA that would not affect any of the other English qualifiers - but, with West Ham lying in wait, the FA Cup remains the easiest route to further continental competition.

With that in mind, McClaren once again managed his resources carefully last weekend.

Newcastle caretaker boss Glenn Roeder has criticised the Yorkshireman for admitting he had "other priorities" in the wake of Sunday's Tyne-Tees derby.

But, rather than apologising for making four changes from the side that beat Basle, the Boro boss has insisted he now regrets he did not make more.

"It (the criticism) bugs me," said McClaren, who will be without Franck Queudrue tonight after the Frenchman failed to recover from the head injury he sustained at the weekend.

"People have to understand the bigger picture. After the Basle away game, I made eight changes against Manchester City and we won 1-0 with the youngest team we'd ever put out.

"After the home game, I only made four changes against Newcastle and we lost. In hindsight, I wish I'd made more.

"It's not about rotation, it's about putting out the best team I can for a specific game in a specific situation."

As well as being criticised for shuffling his pack at the weekend, McClaren has also been accused of letting his international ambitions overshadow his domestic duties.

The Middlesbrough manager, who is understood to have attended a formal interview at Soho Square on Monday, is now the clear favourite to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson as England boss.

But, while the nation's media might be discussing his international credentials, McClaren insists his mind is fully focused on the job in hand.

"There have been stories for the last couple of months and I'm sure there will be more until the final decision is made," he said.

"My focus, and I mean this genuinely and no-one should ever doubt it, is at Middlesbrough.

"My sole intention is to bring success to this football club. That's the only thing on my mind."

Likely line-ups:

MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2): Schwarzer, Parnaby, Riggott, Southgate, Taylor, Morrison, Boateng, Rochemback, Downing, Hasselbaink, Viduka.

CHARLTON (4-4-2): Myhre, Spector, Hreidarsson, Perry, Powell, Kishishev, Holland, Hughes, Thomas, Bartlett, D.Bent.

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