MIDDLESBROUGH Football Club have expressed their delight after the Football Association confirmed the Riverside Stadium could be chosen to host it's first full international within the next 12 months.

The club would be in line to follow Newcastle and Sunderland, who have both hosted recent England internationals.

Sunderland's Stadium of Light will be the venue for the England v Turkey European Championship qualifier in April after successfully staging a friendly against Belgium in October 1999 which England won 2-1.

And there was a full house at St James' Park in September last year when England followed their epic 5-1 victory over Germany in Munich by beating Albania 2-0.

The FA yesterday confirmed that Boro's stadium was being considered as the venue for a forthcoming England fixture, and the club's chief executive Keith Lamb said: "We would be delighted to host a full England international at the Riverside.

"Hosting such a prestigious game would be an honour not only for the football club but the town as a whole.

"As one of the best grounds in the Premier League, we believe the Riverside would be an ideal venue, especially as we have successfully hosted England games at Under-21 and youth level in the past.

"I'm sure North-East football supporters, and Middlesbrough fans in particular, would turn out in force should we get the opportunity to host a full England game."

England still require venues for next year's home Euro qualifiers against both Slovakia and Liechtenstein. The Slovakia game is on June 11 and Liechtenstein on September 10.

There are also two international friendly dates penciled in for February and June and FA spokesman Adrian Bevington said: "There are a number of stadiums under consideration to host England fixtures over the next 12 months.

"The Riverside is certainly one of the venues under serious consideration to host one of these fixtures. However no decisions can be taken until the FA board gives its full approval at its next meeting in November."

The last time England played on Teesside was in 1937 when they beat Wales 2-1, and they also played at Ayresome Park aginst Ireland in 1905 and 1914.

l Former Boro boss Bryan Robson has become the latest big name to be linked with the managerial vacancy at Ipswich.

Robson, who has been out of work since his departure from the Riverside in the summer of last year, has applied for a post described by former manager George Burley as ''one of the best in football''.

Robson joins a long list of possible replacements for Burley, with Bruce Rioch, Bryan Hamilton, Leicester's Micky Adams, Ronnie Moore at Rotherham and Paul Jewell at Wigan all being touted.

Robson, who currently can be seen on MUTV, is the most high-profile figure to be linked with the Portman Road hot-seat.