STEVE McClaren has slammed Charlton counterpart Alan Curbishley's suggestion that Middlesbrough have bought their way into the upper echelons of the Premiership.

The Addicks boss, who watched his side booed from the field after Boro's 2-1 win at the Valley, bemoaned Charlton's lack of financial clout in the run-up to Saturday's game, praising Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson for turning the Teessiders around.

Curbishley claimed he would never be able to compete with the monetary muscle that enabled McClaren to sign five established internationals this summer.

But, after Bolo Zenden followed up Talal El Karkouri's first-half own goal to earn Boro's third away win of the season, the Middlesbrough boss was quick to rebuff his opposite number's views.

"There has been a lot said about the players we've brought in this summer, but we only spent £4.5m on Mark Viduka - the rest were free transfers," said McClaren. "You look at teams like Newcastle, Charlton and Birmingham and they had a summer outlay of eight or nine million.

"We attracted players because of what we did in the Carling Cup, and the fact we could offer European football this season -- Mark Viduka, Bolo Zenden, Ray Parlour and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink all came here because of that.

"All of these players were very ambitious and had a point to prove, but you've got to give credit to the players who were already here for creating an environment where we could attract people like that.

"If we weren't in Europe, I don't think you would have seen the same quality of footballer coming to Middlesbrough this summer."

Boro's willingness to pay high wages undoubtedly played a part as well but, while Charlton looked like a group of disparate individuals, McClaren has been able to cultivate a strong team ethic amongst his new recruits.

The Addicks spent £8m this summer signing El Karkouri, Bryan Hughes, Francis Jeffers, Danny Murphy and Dennis Rommedahl but, while Boro's initial outlay was almost half that, it is easy to see which set of signings have had the greater impact.

"The type of player we've signed has been vitally important," revealed McClaren. "They've integrated into the rest of the team and we have a great dressing room here at Middlesbrough.

"We did our homework on all of the players and that's very important if you're going to be bringing new faces into the football club."

Saturday's win ended a dreadful run of recent results at the Valley, and extended Middlesbrough's unbeaten run to an impressive seven games.

"We've never won here in my time at the club - we'd never even scored a goal - so this was a major breakthrough for us," said McClaren. "We knew it would be difficult because Charlton came into the game on the back of two defeats and needed three points.

"We knew it would be up to us to get the ball down and play football, but we came here to attack as we always do.

"We had Bolo Zenden playing behind Hasselbaink and Viduka and he was given the license to get forward and occupy defenders. I thought he did that well."

Curbishley was somewhat more subdued afterwards. "We can't hide away or walk around with our heads down," said the Charlton boss. "We must not duck out from going shopping or going for a meal. We have to carry on as normal.

"But this is a results business - and the players have got to turn it around. If we don't get results, even I will come under pressure. That's life."

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