Villarreal, population 45,000, is in the Castellon district, an hour's drive up the Mediterranean coast from Valencia, an extremely striking city.

It is regarded as the City of Arts and Sciences and the spectacular architecture behind the avant-garde leisure and education centre and the Hemisferic Arts and Sciences museums are simply stunning. Valencia is renowned for its hospitality and views, situated halfway between the Pyrenees and the Straits of Gibralta. Apparently it has yet to take off as a world tourist attraction just yet, but it can't be long.

MIDDLESBROUGH'S Gaizka Mendieta is continuing his rehabilitation from a serious knee injury in Valencia, the place he still calls home after spending glorious years at the Mestalla.

Mendieta will be at Villarreal tonight and he will be taking his team-mates for a taste of a little Spanish cuisine tomorrow night. McClaren is keeping his squad in Spain for some warm weather training before flying straight to London ahead of Sunday's trip to White Hart Lane.

IN the departure lounge at Durham Tees-Valley airport yesterday it was a lot noisier than on previous trips, with over 3,000 making the journey to Spain, and didn't Ray Parlour know about it!

The players, probably under orders, checked in with just minutes to spare before they had to board the flight. While there was a ripple of applause for most of the players and even a singalong for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, there was no such welcome for Parlour.

The former Arsenal midfielder's private life - having to fork out a lucrative chunk of his future salary to his ex-wife - has been well documented. "Watch out for Child Support and the ex, Ray," bellowed one Boro fan. Fortunately Parlour saw the funny side and offered a little smile in reply.

THE flight over was pretty relaxing. Two hours and 17 minutes was the official time given. It will take a lot longer for Sunderland fans to get to Stoke on Saturday.

But what was interesting was the on-board entertainment. A video of Middlesbrough's UEFA Cup run so far with goals from Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka.

Perhaps it was club psychologist Bill Beswick's idea of trying to help the strikers recapture their confidence. Viduka's last goal was in Boro's first European game against Ostrava in September; Hasselbaink is six games without scoring.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.