STEVE McCLAREN insists there will be no drastic overhaul of his Middlesbrough squad despite their disastrous start to the season.

Boro dropped to the bottom of the Premiership table after crashing to a fourth straight defeat.

The 4-1 derby drubbing by Newcastle, which saw the Magpies come from behind after Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer had been sent off, leaves McClaren still seeking his first point since moving into management.

McClaren sacrificed Christian Karembeu and Keith O'Neill before the season kicked off and after such a dire opening to the campaign, many believe more departures will follow.

Boro skipper Paul Ince, fellow midfielder Paul Okon and schemer Dean Windass, have all been tipped to move on in a McClaren shake-up.

But the England coach, who quit as Sir Alex Ferguson's right-hand man at Manchester United to become a first-time boss on Teesside, is adamant he will keep faith with his players.

"A lot has been said about the players here and talk of wholesale clear-outs,'' said McClaren. "People have said there'll only be three or four players left by the time I'm finished, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

"I'm very pleased with the players we have here. The squad is tremendous and they're working very hard. I've no complaints about them and I believe that with this squad, in a few weeks' time, we'll come out of this bad spell.

"One thing we will be is stronger - as a team and as individuals - and we'll be mentally tougher as well. We have to stay together and stay positive.

"I'm not despondent and I'm not down. We've only played four games and there's no doom and gloom. You can go around pointing the finger at people, but that doesn't help the cause.

"It's up to me, my staff and the players to turn this thing around. Mark my words: We're absolutely determined and we will turn it around.''

McClaren hopes to range key striker Alen Boksic alongside new boy Szilard Nemeth for the first time when Boro host Second Division Northampton in round two of the Worthington Cup tomorrow night.

Croatia ace Boksic has missed Boro's last three games with a calf injury, while Slovakia star Nemeth, signed from Inter Bratislava by the Bryan Robson regime, has yet to start because of a lack of match fitness following close-season hernia surgery.

McClaren, however, admitted: "There's a very good chance that you'll see Nemeth on Tuesday and hopefully Alen will be close as well.

"We've got a good squad with good competition for places. Players like Alen and Nemeth, who have been missing, will be like new signings for us.

"Alen was very close to playing against Newcastle and very determined to play, but it was just one or two days too early for him.

"He's a major miss for us, but saying that I thought Brian Deane and Dean Windass were tremendous in the first half and caused all kinds of problems.

"You have to look at the first-half performance and the kind of football we played and attitude we showed. We believe we're not far away from getting things right.''

However, a giant-killing act by Northampton is unthinkable for McClaren, who knows victory is vital if he is to build credibility with the Boro faithful and avert a major crisis.

Meanwhile, Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke has again been linked with Boro.

Yorke knows McClaren well from their time together at Old Trafford.

But Ferguson insists Yorke is still part of his plans, despite their spat last week when the £10m-rated Trinidad & Tobago star was late for training.

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