STEVE McCLAREN is tonight ready to hand Michael Ricketts the chance to prove his worth to Middlesbrough and make Tottenham rue Glenn Hoddle's decision not to sign him.

Sacked Spurs boss Hoddle abandoned plans to take Ricketts to White Hart Lane when he baulked at Bolton's £2.5m demand.

But McClaren, assistant to England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson when Ricketts won his only senior cap against Holland in Amsterdam two seasons ago, was happy to pay the asking price.

Many have since questioned McClaren's wisdom as Ricketts has struggled to make an impact in his ten-and-a-half months on Teesside.

The 25-year-old targetman, dogged by injury problems, has started only 11 games and scored just once in open play.

But manager McClaren is set to recall him for the Carling Cup quarter-final against a Spurs side still reeling from their 4-0 weekend drubbing at Newcastle.

McClaren is backing Ricketts to rediscover the form that once marked him out as a 20-goals-a-season man as Boro seek an end to their frontline famine.

Ricketts was the last Boro player to score, converting a penalty in the 2-0 win at Aston Villa on November 8.

McClaren was encouraged by Ricketts' contribution and the fans' response when he replaced £8.15m club record buy Massimo Maccarone against Charlton on Saturday, and the Italian faces the axe this evening at White Hart Lane.

"Michael did well,'' said McClaren. "We're pleased with him and he's been working very hard. He's got better and made a big impact when he came on against Charlton. It was good to see the fans appreciate the work he was doing. I still think there's a lot more to come from Michael - he's the best finisher at the club when you see him in training and he's shown in the past that he can score.''

McClaren fired a defiant "I'll do it my way'' message to his critics and insisted he isn't upset by suggestions that Boro are boring.

"Didn't they call Liverpool boring the year they won three trophies?

"We've been unfortunate with injuries in the striking department this season. Maccarone was out for about ten weeks, Ricketts wasn't fully fit for eight weeks, Malcolm Christie broke his leg and is out for the rest of the season, Joseph Job has been out for nearly three months and Juninho has been suffering in recent weeks. We haven't been able to stabilise things up front.

"The facts are as I've stated: Two defeats in 14, with 11 clean sheets, but we are not scoring and in the last three or four games we have not played as we can. We know we have to do better and score goals."

McClaren has injury doubts over Gaizka Mendieta (toe), Juninho (hamstring) and Danny Mills and Colin Cooper (both illness).

"They're all 50-50,'' said McClaren.

"This is a huge game. It is a fantastic opportunity to progress to the semi-final and really light up the town over Christmas.''

Boro left-back Franck Queudrue faces fellow Frenchman and good friend Stephane Dalmat, who snubbed the Teessiders to join Spurs.

Meanwhile, McClaren revealed that midfielder Doriva is likely to be out for a further "two or three weeks'' with an ankle injury, while goalkeeper Carlo Nash is seeing a specialist about a finger problem.