AFTER spending more than seven months of the season occupying a UEFA Cup berth, Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren last night promised that his big-game experts would not slip out of seventh spot when it mattered the most.

While Arsenal and Manchester United will lock horns at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium next weekend, Boro are involved in their own "cup final" at the City of Manchester Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

A point against Manchester City will guarantee the Teessiders' place in next season's UEFA Cup, but defeat would see their hosts steal the final European spot on goal difference provided Tottenham do not thrash Blackburn at White Hart Lane.

That would represent a remarkable turnaround from two months ago, when Boro looked odds-on for more continental competition and City looked destined for mid-table mediocrity.

Since Stuart Pearce replaced Kevin Keegan at Eastlands in the middle of March, City have lost just one of their last eight games while Boro have taken 12 points from a possible 24.

That has set up an intriguing European shoot-out but, while City have momentum on their side, McClaren is confident his players have an even more valuable commodity to call upon.

His players have come to consider the seventh European spot their own and, with tomorrow's opponents placing it at risk, the England number two is predicting a Boro backlash to ward off any attempts to deprive them of their rightful reward.

"We've been in this position all season so there's a feeling that it's ours and it's not going to be taken away," said McClaren, who likened tomorrow's knife-edge scenario to the second leg of a European game.

"We've worked so hard for this and, despite so many setbacks and injuries, we are in a fantastic position to achieve what we targeted at the beginning of the season.

"UEFA Cup qualification is vitally important to this club and is something we strive for. I've talked to quite a few of the players and asked their opinion and they have told me it is what they have played 37 games for.

"To them it is like a cup final, and these players have played in cup finals, played in World Cups and in Europe and won medals - bigger games than they will play in at Manchester.

"They've just as much experience as I have in these situations and you have to put your trust and faith in them. That's what we've done all season and we will do it again.

"I know we have the players and staff who can handle it, as they have done over the last four to five weeks. Now we just need to do it one more time."

Last weekend's 1-0 win over Tottenham proved Middlesbrough's ability to win when the pressure was at its most intense.

But, while Manchester City won 2-1 at Aston Villa to keep themselves in the hunt, they are yet to show they can handle the expectancy of a capacity home crowd.

Pearce's side have stolen up on the rails in the last two months but, tomorrow, they will be forced to step out of the shadows and take centre stage.

The blue half of Manchester is already talking of European qualification as the inevitable end to a strife-filled season that has included Keegan's abdication and the crowning of a new king.

Yet City have a long-standing reputation for letting their fans down and, with so much at stake, McClaren is backing his battle-hardened troops to pull through.

"We have handled the pressure that's been put on us," he said.

"We had to collect points at Newcastle and Liverpool and we had to beat Spurs. We were expected to do it and we did.

"Manchester City have come from nowhere and now there is enormous pressure on them.

"Who are the favourites? Which corner would you like to be in? The home corner, where they are needing a win, or the away corner, where we are needing a draw? All I know is that we have a squad who are capable of dealing with it."

McClaren has been planning for every eventuality this week. The Boro boss made the usual noises about setting out to win the game at his pre-match press conference yesterday but his team selection is likely to hint at a more conservative game plan.

It would be a major surprise if he did not start with a five-man midfield, although he will have alternative options on the bench should things not go to plan in the early stages.

"We don't need to take any risks," explained McClaren. "We knew we had to win against Spurs last week and, initially, we took risks and got away with them.

"We got the opening goal and then the tactics changed. We have the players and the game plans to change things again depending on what situation arises. We have always done that and, on Sunday, who knows?"

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