ANGRY Grazer AK manager Walter Schachner last night claimed Middlesbrough's inability to cope with wintry weather has made the Austrian champions even more determined to knock the Premiership side out of the UEFA Cup.

Schachner cut a frustrated figure yesterday when he was told his players would not be able to train at the Riverside Stadium because of the North-East's heavy snowfall, even cheekily claiming the town only had 'two shovels' to make sure the game went ahead.

The Grazer squad actually trained on a snow-covered pitch at Albany Northern League side Guisborough Town, just minutes away from the Guisborough Hall Hotel where they were staying.

Boro had offered them other alternatives but Grazer were unwilling to travel and Schachner has pointed the finger at UEFA, rather than Boro, who he says 'have done everything to help'.

"We have a big problem for an away game. We did have a place where we could have trained but now we can't use that. We have just found out there's 10cm of snow lying there," said Schachner last night.

"Our sports director, Hannes Weninger, was there when Middlesbrough trained on a hard plastic court but that's about an hour from Guisborough and I don't see the purpose of doing so much travelling just to do some light training.

"I have explained to the team we have these big problems and that's given me a real edge so I'm going to beat Middlesbrough. I'm disappointed with UEFA that we didn't get a better place and pitch to have training. Better facilities.

"Middlesbrough can't help it and there's probably only two snow shovels in the whole of Middlesbrough, so let's see what happens on the pitch on Thursday night.

"I would have liked the opportunity to have played and practised on the pitch where we are playing but that's not been the case. Middlesbrough have told us that we can train on a pitch on Thursday in 10cm of snow. It's not ideal but there you go."

Grazer, who are much more familiar in dealing with such cold snaps, having had temperatures as low as minus 12 in recent weeks, revealed they will not be launching any protests to UEFA, admitting everything is being 'done by the book'.

But the words of warning to Boro are sure to stoke up the heat for tonight's UEFA Cup second leg at the Riverside even further, with some Grazer players already having labelled their opponents as arrogant after last week's 2-2 draw.

Steve McClaren's side go into the contest favourites having scored two away goals in Austria and the manager believes the freezing conditions have been exactly the same for both sides.

Over 200 tons of snow have been cleared from around the ground and a protective cover has been on the pitch to ensure it is in the best state possible under the circumstances.

McClaren said: "We are doing everything possible to make sure the game will be on. A lot of work is going on at the stadium.

"We have not been able to prepare on grass or outside. That's been very difficult and Grazer have had the same problems. We both have no excuses. We are fortunate here because the in-door facilities are tremendous and we have been able to work on things."

Boro are aware of the threat posed by Grazer, even without top-scorer Roland Kollmann, having watched videos of their 1-0 victory at Liverpool in a Champions League qualifier in August.

And McClaren is relieved to hear that Spanish referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez will take charge tonight and not Croatian Edo Trivkovic, who was at the centre of many bizarre incidents seven days ago.

"Thank God we have a different referee than the one we had last week," said McClaren.

"Despite the scoreline there's certainly no complacency but there is a nice determination to get into the last 16.

"We need to defend better than we did last Thursday and we know that. Concentration is a massive thing in Europe and you need to be switched on all the time or you can be punished. We are determined to do well in this."

McClaren has taken to sitting in the stands to watch games unfold for longer periods now but he claims he has an almost telepathic understanding with his coaching staff.

"I needed to take a bigger overview of the game and it's helped me. I try to stay up there as long as possible," he said.

"I have to trust the coaches and trust the players to do a job. The telephone is red hot. It's at the stage now where Steve Round knows what's coming when I ring and he says 'I know'."

Boro: Schwarzer; Reiziger, Southgate, Riggott, Queudrue; Morrison, Parlour, Zenden, Downing, Job, Hasselbaink.

Grazer: Schranz; Plassenegger, Ehmann, Tokic, Pogatetz; Bleidelis, Muratovic, Aufhauser, Dollinger; Bazina, Skoro.

* Blackburn have admitted a charge of failing to control their players following a mass confrontation during their clash against Chelsea at Ewood Park on February 2.

Chelsea have denied the same charge and both clubs have requested personal hearings to argue their cases.