STEVE McCLAREN hopes a little warm weather training will help Middlesbrough continue their good Premiership form at Tottenham tomorrow.

Instead of flying back with the official Boro tour party on Friday afternoon, McClaren kept his players in Valencia for another day so they could save on travelling time.

They will make the trip straight from Spain to London at lunch-time today ahead of their league encounter at White Hart Lane tomorrow afternoon.

McClaren believes the reduced amount of journey time - they would have had to travel from Teesside to London either today or tomorrow - will help to keep his team fresh.

"We fly back on Saturday after training in the nicer weather for a couple of days then go straight to London," said McClaren, who took the squad for a meal with injured midfielder Gaizka Mendieta in Valencia last night.

McClaren, whose side have yet to win any of their four games immediately following a European night, reiterated his belief that naming strikers Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka on the bench in Villarreal was the right decision.

"We have got to use the squad and try to keep players as fresh as possible for the three games a week," said McClaren. "The players have done well in the past. We have lost one and drawn three of the Sunday games after Thursday matches and now we have to bounce back this Sunday.

"It's not just about 11 men all the time. We need to recover between games and make sure the whole squad is involved. We didn't get the result on Thursday but we have in the past. Everyone came though OK, which is positive."

After a promising start to life under Jaques Santini this season, Tottenham have stuttered and dropped well off the pace.

Santini has since departed and Dutchman Martin Jol has taken over. But McClaren, whose side are unbeaten in seven league matches, claims he is not worrying about Tottenham's problems too much.

"It's never a good time to play Tottenham, they have very good players," he said. "They have quality in their side and it will be hard for us. They have the players capable of scoring goals.

"We are juggling to try to get the right results in the right games. We have got a good record. We are doing well in the Premier League and looking forward to Sunday now."

Right-back Michael Reiziger is pushing for a first team return after making a late substitute appearance against Villarreal.

It was Reiziger's first appearance since injuring a shoulder in the defeat to Arsenal on the second game of the season and he is now competing with youngster Tony McMahon for a place.

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