STEVE McCLAREN last night hailed his goalscoring centre-backs for helping Middlesbrough's strikers in their hour of need.

Between them, Boro's front two have only scored in six of their 17 Premiership matches this season - with Massimo Maccarone top-scoring with four goals.

But, despite the shot-shy forwards' poor form, McClaren's men have been able to maintain a place in the top ten.

The Boro boss paid special tribute to his two central defenders - Ugo Ehiogu and Gareth Southgate - who have managed at least a goal between them in each of the Teessiders' last four games on home soil.

"We expect our strikers to score, but we have said all along that we want more goals from set-pieces and more goals from midfield," said McClaren, whose side entertain high-flying Chelsea today.

"And our two centre-backs have been tremendous and they have pitched in with some goals.

"Geremi has come in and got a couple and Joseph Job, you could call him a midfielder, has scored a few. We want goals to come from all over."

Ehiogu's form has delighted his manager, who knows the defender was left devastated at not being part of England's World Cup squad in the summer.

But the 30-year-old's impressive form at club level led to him being handed a recall to Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad when the national team had a training get-together last month. And McClaren believes Ehiogu has now become an even better player at the heart of his side's back-line.

"Ugo was disappointed not to go to the World Cup and his performances have been tremendous," he said. "They deservedly put him back in the England squad.

"He has become more responsible, not only for his own performance, but for other people's as well."

Considering Boro have so many young players at their disposal, McClaren revealed he has had to rely more heavily on his elder-statesmen.

And, along with Ehiogu and Southgate, the Riverside chief believes goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer is living up to his billing as one of the best in the top-flight.

"I brought Gareth here for that experience, and this is why Ugo is such a vital player for us," said McClaren.

"Mark Schwarzer is becoming more and more important for us because of his knowledge of the Premier League. It's not just about on the field, it's about off it and you need leaders.

"We lost Paul Ince last year who provided great leadership for us and we needed the seniors to step forward for us and they have.

"When you look at the team it's got talent. But what it needs is maturity and to go through the ups and downs of a full Premiership season.

"We have a load of young players. David Murphy came in at the start of the season at left-back and got injured; Stuart Parnaby has come in for Robbie Stockdale and done superbly; Jonathan Greening has also come on superbly and Massimo had a tremendous start to the season and he is still young."

Today's visit of Claudio Ranieri's second-placed Chelsea to the North-East represents the start of a difficult period of games for Boro. After this afternoon, Boro face leaders Arsenal a week today and then third-placed Manchester United on Boxing Day. After those there are trips to Aston Villa and Blackburn before taking on the Blues again in the FA Cup on January 4.

And McClaren, whose side have slipped from third to ninth recently, said: "It's a vital period and we have said to the players that we have got to stay together in this period We have proved this year that we have got to compete with the top teams."

And McClaren believes cash-strapped Chelsea's inability to compete in the transfer market during the summer has led to them being regarded as genuine title contenders.

He said: "I think the biggest thing about Chelsea this season is that they have not bought anybody. They have kept the same squad. He (Ranieri) has looked for consistency and he has found it, both away and at home.

"Last season you never knew how Chelsea would perform away from home, but now you definitely know what you are going to get from them.

"Chelsea have a load of talented players and they deserve to be where they are in the League. They are being talked about as title contenders and rightly so."

* Goalkeeper Brad Jones has left on a month's deal. He has been snapped up by Stockport County.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.