JIMMY Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka may not have been late arrivals in Ostrava yesterday, but Middlesbrough fans were in no mood to miss out.

Despite having only 900 official tickets, there had been a steady flow from Teesside descending on the Czech Republic and, by late afternoon, there were thousands in the city.

No matter where you roamed or where you looked there was a Boro shirt, mixing with the locals in the centre.

Most tended to settle either in the market square - also known as the People's Militia Square during the Communists' rule - or in the Stodolni drinking den.

Stodolni is a street, with a number of others running off it, where 30 or so bars sit. And, for as little as 16p a glass of the local Radegast beer, the high-spirited Boro supporters found this area quite to their liking.

IT was in Stodolni that a group of us went looking for something to eat.

The taxi driver was told to drop us off somewhere nice, and he duly obliged. Moravska Chalupa was the name of the restaurant.

From the outside graffiti writing spoiled the white walls while, on the inside, as well as a few more red shirts, there was a remarkably decorated dining area.

With a medieval theme, the seven of us were seated at a round table that was more fit for a king. And the welcome we received could not have been any better.

The one problem, however, was it was frowned upon to eat good old fashioned chips with certain dishes. Instead dumplings - a speciality here apparently - were the order of the day and, to be honest, they weren't to the liking of everyone.

A TEN-minute walk from the many bars was the Imperial Hotel, the place where the Boro team have been staying.

Right in the centre of town it was plagued with Czech autograph hunters, not used to such a massive invasion of football supporters from another country.

Handy for the players to have a little stroll around the shops - if there had been any decent ones to look at - but not so perfect for a little privacy.

The Imperial is probably the finest and most expensive hotel in Ostrava - at £100 a night for a double bed. But the Hotel Atom, the media's place of rest, would perhaps have been better placed for the squad, as it is situated on the outskirts of the city centre.

There were also a number of fans staying at the Imperial and they chose to hang many red and white flags and scarves from the windows.

THE waves of bright red and white created from Boro supporters lit up a pretty depressing town.

Friendly people and the actual square and centre was quite attractive, yet there was very little in the way of shops or restaurants.

Those Ostrava did have were well designed and maintained. But there were too few to write home about.

There were a large number of derelict buildings, mainly from its coal-mining past, and the paint-daubed walls spoilt what could be an appealing city that lies in North Moravia and is on the east bank of the River Ostravice.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.