AN embattled Steve McClaren has admitted that his injury-ravaged Middlesbrough side are playing "more like a team in the bottom six" than an outfit heading for Europe.

As if picking up two points from the last six league games was not bad enough, McClaren has had to call on three players without a Premiership start between them just to muster a 19-man squad for today's game with Blackburn.

One of those could yet start at the Riverside with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Colin Cooper having joined an absentee list that already includes six first-team regulars.

McClaren has admitted that Boro's current slump is threatening to undo all of their good work from the first half of the season.

But the Middlesbrough manager is confident his side can turn things round before their European ambitions suffer irreparable damage.

"It's been extremely frustrating," admitted McClaren. "We're still in the top six, but the form we're in at the minute is bottom six form.

"We can't deny that and we can't get away from it. There are plenty of reasons for our recent slump, but we can't fall back on them.

"We've got a squad here and we've got players that are more than capable of getting results.

"We've got to work hard to turn things around. If you look at any team in the Premiership, with the exception of Chelsea, you'll see that they've all had a bad run at some stage.

"Everybody has experienced a run where they've struggled to pick up points. Hopefully our run has bottomed out now and we'll start to get some results.

"If we keep working hard, the rub of the green will come our way and we'll start to win again."

With Cooper's knee problem ruling him out of today's game, the last thing McClaren needed was another injury to one of his defenders.

But, while 18-year-old full-back Tony McMahon is still feeling the effects of the dead leg he suffered at Portsmouth, he is expected to be fit enough to line up against Blackburn.

The good news didn't finish there either as, after initially turning down the club's offer of a new deal, McMahon yesterday signed a three-and-a-half-year contract extension that will keep him on Teesside until 2008.

"I'm over the moon to have signed," said the Evenwood-born youngster. "I stressed from the start that I never wanted to leave Middlesbrough. I'm a local lad and I'm fulfilling a dream I've had ever since joined the club.

"I'm glad the contract is done and out of the way so that I can concentrate on my football. Now I can get my head down and continue to work hard.

"I'm obviously at a good club to develop. The gaffer believes in youth and has given several young players a chance this season. I set myself targets every season and, to be honest, I was just aiming to play for the first team in the Carling Cup.

"But I got my chance due to injuries and a little bit of luck, and I've taken it with both hands. To play 16 successive games was fantastic.

"It's been a real buzz playing in front of 30,000 Boro fans, but my debut at Old Trafford against the team I supported as a kid has to be the highlight so far."

McMahon, who turns 19 next month, is the latest of Boro's young stars to sign a new contract following Stewart Downing, James Morrison, Matthew Bates and Gary Liddle's decision to commit themselves to the club.

McClaren hopes to add striker Danny Graham to that list later this month, after admitting that his current problems would have been far worse had it not been for the club's Academy stars.

"I thank God for our Academy," he said. "Our squad for the Blackburn game includes eight homegrown players, which just shows how good our Academy is and how much we've needed it.

"The players are there on merit, and they've already proved that they can do a job for us.

"It's vitally important for us to keep all of our youngsters. You don't want to lose them and we'll do everything we can to keep them here. So I'm delighted that Tony's signed a new deal."

Assuming that McMahon is fit enough to start at right-back today, Michael Reiziger will partner skipper Gareth Southagte at the heart of the Boro defence.

Bolo Zenden's suspension should hand James Morrison another start on the right of midfield while, in the absence of flu victim Hasselbaink, Malcolm Christie is expected to partner Joseph-Desire Job in a makeshift Boro attack.

Christie marked his return from a 15-month injury lay-off with a goal in Tuesday night's 2-1 defeat at Portsmouth, and his rehabilitation could not have been better timed given Boro's sudden shortage of strikers.

"It's a big lift for everyone around the club," said McClaren. "Not least to Malcolm himself because he's worked tremendously hard to get over his injury.

"It would have been hard work to come back at all, but to come back and play at this level has taken a great deal of effort."

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