MIDDLESBROUGH fans were left wondering whether they were reading a misprint in manager Steve McClaren's programme notes last night.

"Rarely has there been a more important match for this football club" was McClaren's summation of Boro's final Group E game against Partizan Belgrade.

And while Boro's passage into the last 32 of the UEFA Cup was assured before a ball had even been kicked last night, most fans would support the boss' comments that every game is as important as the last.

What many supporters failed to comprehend was McClaren's decision to omit Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka from the starting XI, especially in the wake of his pre-match jottings.

A fortnight after Hasselbaink and Viduka were left on the bench against Villarreal - in a 2-0 defeat - the pair once again found themselves playing second fiddle to Szilard Nemeth and Joesph Job.

McClaren has every right to give Nemeth and Job the opportunity to prove themselves on the first-team front, but surely last night's exercise was a chance for first-choice strikers Hasselbaink and Viduka to fine tune their partnership?

When the pair moved to the Riverside Stadium during the summer, McClaren's intentions seemed clear. Plotting the Teessiders' maiden voyage into Europe, Hasselbaink and Viduka - both with proven European pedigrees - were the men hand-picked by McClaren to pilot Boro into the unknown.

Despite scoring 14 goals between them already this season, Hasselbaink and Viduka have shared just two games in European action - against Banik Ostrava and Lazio.

Equally as anonymous to each other - on the domestic stage as well as European - Nemeth and Job were playing alongside each other for only the third time this season last night.

But where Hasselbaink and Viduka have drifted in and out of the goals this season, Nemeth and Job justified McClaren's team selection within the first 22 minutes.

Looking dubiously offside in the tenth minute, Nemeth latched on to a Job through ball, before dispatching the ball under Partizan keeper Ivica Kralj.

And Nemeth kindly returned the compliment not long after the restart, squaring for Job, who turned the ball past Kralj.

Even without the style and panache, Hasselbaink and Viduka both have in abundance, unlikely lads Nemeth and Job always looked like causing problems for the Belgrade defence.

Frustratingly for the 20,856 crowd, Nemeth and Job caused few problems in a disappointing second half, which cried out for Hasselbaink and Viduka, sat on the Boro bench, as youngster James Morrison wrapped up victory in injury time.

David O'Leary's improving Aston Villa visit the Riverside Stadium on Saturday, where the Hasselbaink and Viduka Show should resume service.

McClaren may have had some explaining to do before last night's game, but the anticipated return of Hasselbaink and Viduka at the weekend is sure to raise few eyebrows.

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