STEVE McCLAREN is confident his Middlesbrough squad have the mental strength and character to bury the club's tag of half-season wonders.

The Boro boss believes he now has the players capable of sustaining their position near the top of the Premiership until May, despite the club being notorious for falling away in the second half of the season.

The Teessiders go into Boxing Day's game at Birmingham in fifth place, but history has shown that Christmas has normally signalled a slump at the Riverside.

In the 1998/99 season they were fourth only to fail to win again until March, while Bryan Robson's side's fall from grace was even more pronounced in the 1995-96 campaign.

Fifth when the turkey was being served across Teesside back then, they failed to trouble their win column in the Premiership again until April, eventually finishing in 12th spot.

But according to McClaren, the class of 2004-05 is a very different animal.

He said: "We can pull away or we can come back into the pack. I know which way I want to go and I know which way the players want to go.

"We need a good squad, we need character within that squad, we need luck and, hopefully, no more injuries.

"I think the breakthrough came winning the Carling Cup and then signing the players of the calibre we did over the summer.

"I think that changed the mentality of this football club. The mentality of the players we brought in, the expectations are greater.

"But with those expectations there are greater pressures, but more enjoyment when you're doing well.

"We've certainly showed that character over the first half of the season and we've got to continue doing that.

"This has been a very good year for Middlesbrough FC. We've put ourselves in a good position to be encouraged for the year coming up.

"After the defeat at Spurs we've recovered well and we can go one of two ways in this four-game period over ten days."

The games come thick and fast for McClaren's side over the next fortnight, including crunch matches at home to Manchester United and down at Chelsea.

The assistant to England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, however, is far from delighted with the packed programme at a time when players across Europe are indulging in their traditional winter breaks from the game.

"It's amazing at the Christmas period when we're talking about five games in 14 days when in the Italian, German and Spanish leagues they've finished for this period," said McClaren.

"They've got their feet up and they're recovering.

"I also think the quality of games deteriorates because the recovery period is not ideal for 100 per cent performances for each game.

"Injuries test your squad and clubs need to carry a big squad just for this period.

"We're short of the ideal in squad terms and we're shorter now with our injuries."

Despite the packed programme, McClaren is aiming to ensure that his players stay focused on the job in hand, and don't fall away during the festive period.

He said: "You can lose focus because there's many distractions going on over the Christmas period as everyone knows.

"It's the amount of focus that one can keep on the job.

"But it's February/March time, when you need to push on, that's when the season really starts for me.

"The Christmas period, like the Easter period, is a tough one. We've got many games coming up and it really separates the men from the boys. If you're pushing on up there you stay up there.

"Position-wise, point-wise I think we'd have taken that (fifth spot at Christmas) at the start of the season."

McClaren, meanwhile, revealed that he has told chairman Steve Gibson that he is determined that goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer should stay at the Riverside.

Schwarzer appears no nearer agreeing a new deal with Boro, and becomes free to speak to other clubs in eight days.

With Manchester United monitoring the situation McClaren is still hopeful a solution can be found. He said: "There's continual dialogue between Mark Schwarzer's representatives and this football club.

"From my point of view Mark has been magnificent for this football club.

"I know the club is endeavouring to do everything possible to make sure Mark is here for the forseeable future.

"I've made it plain to the football club that I want him to stay.

"He's one of the best. I think he wants to stay. Eight-and-a-half years, 300 appearances, coming up to a testimonial if he signs this new contract.

"A fantastic servant for this football club and we want him to stay. We've said that all along.

"I just hope the football club and Mark Schwarzer and his agent can sort it out because we need him signed up for this football club."

Schwarzer will take his place in the Boro side at St Andrews on Boxing Day, with McClaren expecting a tough battle against Steve Bruce's rejuvenated side

McClaren said: "It will be a tough game. They've got a good spine and Birmingham are on a revival and are getting the results that people expected them to get at the beginning of the season .

"They suffered with the injury to Mikael Forssel earlier in the season but they recovered well.

"St Andrews is always a tough place to go and get a result."

Read more about Middlesbrough here.