MIDDLESBROUGH'S Massimo Maccarone last night reacted angrily to suggestions that he is desperate for a return to Italy in a bid to reignite his career.

The £8.15m club record buy has struggled to hit top form since arriving from Empoli in the summer of 2002 and he was quoted yesterday as saying he would welcome a loan move back to his former employers.

But Maccarone, who has only scored once this season after recovering from injury, has insisted he wants to make a success of his life in the Premiership with Boro.

And the 24-year-old revealed he is willing to stay on Teesside and he is keen to become a regular in manager Steve McClaren's first team.

"I want to stay at Middlesbrough. I am a Middlesbrough player and I want it to stay that way," said Maccarone.

"I have never said to anybody that I want to go on loan. I am angry that this is how it has been reported because that is just not true.

"I have never spoken to any press about this until now. But what my agent had said was that if the club decided they thought it was the best for me to go out on loan then that would be their decision.

"But as long as I am in the manager's plans then I want to stay here and do my best for the team."

Maccarone finished as Boro's top-scorer in his first season in English football when he hit nine goals.

McClaren expected big things from him this season but the forward's aims were dealt a crushing blow when he suffered ankle ligament damage in a summer friendly with Hull City.

The Italian, who has represented his country, only made his first start since that incident when he scored at Wigan on his comeback in the Carling Cup on October 29.

That was just one of only five starts this season after failing to convince McClaren he is worth a regular place.

The Boro boss is working hard to draft in some extra firepower during the month-long transfer window.

And he has made an approach to Liverpool to see if he can acquire the services of England international Emile Heskey.

McClaren - linked with a number of forwards including Leeds' Mark Viduka and Chelsea's Eidur Gudjohnsen - is desperate to find the right striker who will score the goals to push his side towards silverware.

And Maccarone last night moved to try to reassure his manager that he is more than capable of hitting a rich vein of form in front of goal.

"I want to stay here and fight for my place in the team," said the former Italian under-21 international. "Of course, I would rather be in the team so that I can prove my worth, but I am confident that I can score goals if I am given the chance."

Boro boss McClaren also scotched reports suggesting he is willing to listen to offers for Maccarone.

The Riverside chief said: "There are no plans for Massimo to be moving on anywhere, either temporarily or permanently."

Meanwhile, Dutch winger Bolo Zenden has welcomed the return of Cameroon international Joseph Job to the Boro fold.

Job made his comeback in Boro's 2-0 FA Cup third round victory over Notts County on Saturday and he is in contention for a place in the starting line-up to face Fulham tomorrow night.

And Zenden said: "We had plenty of chances and it was nice to see Joseph involved in the first goal on Saturday because he has been out injured for a long time.

"It is always good to score, especially for the crowd and I'm sure he will be hoping to get his name on the scoresheet soon."

l Fulham boss Chris Coleman believes his players have the character to halt their slump in form - and insists he is ready to swing the axe after tomorrow's trip to Middlesbrough if they do not.

The Cottagers laboured to a 2-1 victory over Cheltenham in Sunday's FA Cup third round clash at Loftus Road with an injury-time winner from Louis Saha proving decisive.

Saha's finishing prevented a humiliating early exit for Fulham who looked anything but the country's fifth best side against struggling Third Division opposition.

The performance was indicative of the Cottagers' current form. Before meeting Cheltenham they had suffered three defeats in four outings with a 2-0 victory over Southampton the only highlight.

And, while Coleman is quick to acknowledge that his players are failing to reach the high standards they set when blazing a trail to the Premiership's European places, he is backing them to come good.

''We have not been playing particularly well over the last four or five games. We were outstanding against Southampton but otherwise our form has been a bit indifferent,'' he said.

''We were certainly poor at Aston Villa. But all teams go through stages when they aren't firing on all cylinders and I'm confident we can get back to where we were.''

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