WITH a tired grimace on his face, a clearly exhausted Szilard Nemeth pointed to his soaking T-shirt and said: "Look I'm sweating.

"After that, even our training seems easy."

It sounded as if he was referring to a visit from the Spanish Inquisition.

In fact, he was talking about something even more tortuous: a grilling from a packed hall of English journalists on the eve of Slovakia's European showdown with England.

Nemeth has only a limited command of the English language and he plunged into the press conference without the safety net of a translator.

His stuttered sentences and rigid replies did not sound like a footballer who has spent the last 15 months in England.

Before the start of this season, Nemeth was just a fringe figure in the Middlesbrough team, showing only fleeting glimpses of his obvious talent.

This season, however, after striking up a formidable striking partnership with record buy Massimo Maccarone, the Slovakian striker has looked a new, exciting prospect, scoring three goals in only four appearances - good news in any language.

"England will have to be wary of him in Brataslava," said McClaren, who as Sven's No 2 will no doubt give the Swede a full run down of Nemeth's striking qualities.

"We always knew he had the pace, touch and ability and could score goals, but he's much more settled into this area now and his relationship with the other players has developed."

Above all it is the relationship with McClaren himself that seems to have signalled a significant sea-change in the Slovakian's form.

Signed by McClaren's predecessors, Bryan Robson and Terry Venables, on a free transfer from Inter Bratislava last summer, Nemeth was initially kept out of the starting line-up by a hernia and then a series of niggling injuries.

Even when fit he was in and out of the Boro side, frequently only coming on as a substitute for the last 30 minutes.

It seemed McClaren was as sceptical of the Slovakian forward's ability as the Middlesbrough fans were; an opinion backed up by Nemeth's poor return in front of goal - three in 21 League appearances in his first season as a Boro player.

"I am enjoying it now, but my first year was difficult; it was a new country, new people and my English was bad," Nemeth admitted.

"I was on the bench a lot, but even if I came on and did well I would be dropped for the next game."

Things changed during pre-season when McClaren, an avid user of the Prozone computer system, which is designed to measure individual player performances, noticed that Szilard was outperforming many of his rivals for a place in the team.

Such results kept Nemeth in McClaren's mind when deciding which players to offload in the summer.

And while veterans Paul Ince and Robbie Mustoe both left for pastures new, the Slovakian misfit stayed.

"Steve McClaren told me at the end of last season that I would have a very good season this time. He has helped me a lot," Nemeth said. "He is very good, the coaching here is very good and the team is prepared."

Nemeth's current relationship with McClaren is better than the one he has with national coach Ladislav Jurkemic.

Already establishing himself as a hardliner who cares little for giddy reputation, Jurkemic has axed Sunderland defender Stanislav Varga and West Ham's Vladimir Labant during his brief, but controversial, ten months in charge.

Nemeth could well join the list of high-profile names missing from the Slovakian starting line-up following some rather imprudent statements made following his exclusion from the 3-0 defeat to Turkey.

"I had just had a hamstring injury and the manager did not think I would be able to play," he said at the time.

"It's his decision, even though I think scoring two goals against Sunderland suggests he might have been wrong."

'Wrong' was obviously a foreign word to Jurkemic, who was a popular choice to take over as national manager after he guided unfancied Zilina to the Slovakian title the previous season, and a battle of words - usually through the Slovakian press - duly ensued between the two.

Nemeth was finally named in the squad to face England, but doubts still linger over whether Szilard's name will be added to the starting teamsheet today.

However, while there are doubts over his selection, there are certainly no doubts over Nemeth's popularity in Slovakia. Brought up in the small town of Kormarno, close to the Hungarian border, the young striker often finds returning home a little uncomfortable.

Unlike the anonymity afforded to him in England, Nemeth the Premier League star, finds himself the unwelcome focus of local attention.

"When I go home, everyone knows my name," he explained.

"I don't get any peace; they follow me into shops and restaurants. I can keep a lower profile here (England) and I like that, especially now I know a little bit more of the language."

Read more about Middlesbrough here.