STEVE McClaren may not be the manager of a side occupying a relegation place this morning, but goals are increasingly proving a problem for Middlesbrough.

Not for the first time during his tenure at the Riverside, Boro's front two - in this case Malcolm Christie and Szilard Nemeth - failed to find the vital breakthrough that would have claimed a victory.

Not even the late introduction of record-buy Massimo Maccarone, scorer of three goals against Tottenham last season, and fans' golden boy Juninho could find the goal they deseprately craved.

Boro, the poorest goalscorers in the top-flight, have scored seven in ten outings this season - a clearly worrying statistic for any club.

For the third game in a row, after defeats by Chelsea and Newcastle, McClaren's squad showed what they are capable of for 45 minutes - in this case after the restart.

But fourth-bottom Boro quickly need to find consistency for the full match if they are to drag themselves out of what is rapidly developing into a relegation scrap.

The Teessiders could quite easily have snatched all three points from White Hart Lane; conversely after a poor opening half they could have ended pointless.

But, thankfully for McClaren, Spurs are suffering their own forward problems as the out-of-sorts Bobby Zamora and Helder Postiga struggle to score their first Premiership goals for the club they joined in the summer.

McClaren had to make a late reshuffle, with England defender Danny Mills forced to withdraw from the squad for personal reasons.

That meant a gap at right-back and young centre-half Andrew Davies was handed the job, with obvious deputies Stuart Parnaby injured and Robbie Stockdale on loan at West Ham.

Surprisingly, and against many fans' wishes, that was the only change to a side which lost 1-0 to North-East rivals Newcastle eight days earlier, meaning Maccarone had to settle again for a place on the bench alongside Juninho.

But former Boro defender Christian Ziege was not even lucky enough to enjoy that for Tottenham.

The German wing-back's move from Boro to Liverpool more than three years ago is still the subject of a long-running legal battle, as the Teessiders try to win compensation which they believe they deserve.

Ziege - who cost the Reds £5.5m, £2.5m short of Boro's valuation - has recently returned in the reserves from a career-threatening thigh injury sustained on Boxing Day, but he has yet to make his Premiership bow this season.

Without the former AC Milan man, caretaker boss David Pleat has been getting the best out of a crop of players looking doomed for relegation under Glenn Hoddle.

The departure of Hoddle has sparked a dramatic turnaround in fortunes at the Lane and Spurs had gone four games unbeaten since Pleat took over the reins.

Hoddle has urged the club's board to give Pleat the job permanently, stating whoever takes over will struggle to adapt to life under the "obstructive" Director of Football.

Perhaps he has a point, after all the men who have to work under him, the playing staff, are clearly revelling under the latest incumbent of the hot-seat in north London.

An early effort from Gaizka Mendieta, which flew high over the bar, and a miscued shot from Malcolm Christie was all Boro could muster from a disappointing opening half an hour.

Throughout that time Spurs, without the services of Freddie Kanoute until at least Christmas, struggled to find shots on goal, although they held the vast majority of possession - with eight corners in the opening 35 minutes evidence of the balance of power.

Paul Konchesky, enjoying a particularly lively match on the left side of midfield, had a long-range effort which flew marginally wide and Bobby Zamora's shot from 25 yards was well saved by an alert Mark Schwarzer.

However, despite incessant Tottenham attacks led by impressive former Boro target Stephane Dalmat, their failure to find a breakthrough and seriously trouble Schwarzer left Boro with a chance of sneaking a goal at the other end.

And it was the visitors who could quite easily have gone into the interval one up with a couple of late chances.

First a counter-attack led to Bolo Zenden crossing into Boateng's path, but the Dutchman's first-time shot from close range failed to hit the target.

Then Nemeth's 30-yard drive was expertly tipped over by keeper Kasey Keller.

The second half, with no changes to either side, started in exactly the same manner as the majority of the first.

A Tottenham corner, taken by Darren Anderton, was turned goalwards by former Chelsea man Gustavo Poyet but Schwarzer was equal to the South American's header.

The threat of changes suddenly spurred a below-par Boro into life.

As Juninho, Maccarone and Jonathan Greening all warmed up down the touch-line there was a real feeling that McClaren's men could take the lead.

They nearly did just that when a jinking run by Mendieta took Maurico Tarrico out of the equation. The Spaniard played a deft ball to Zenden, whose powerful shot was turned away for a corner superbly by Keller.

Zenden went close moments later when his left-foot shot flew just wide of Keller's upright.

Then the American keeper had to be alert to expertly tip over a curling free-kick from Mendieta, as Boro seriously looked like returning up the M1 with all three points.

Spurs had late chances, through Postiga and Stephane Dalmat, but failings in the final third for both teams resulted in Boro settling for a point.

Result: Tottenham Hotspur 0, Middlesbrough 0.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.