WITH the contenders for a European spot already jostling for position, Steve McClaren has claimed Tottenham's lavish summer spending has made a top-seven finish a minimum requirement at White Hart Lane.

Never one to shy away from some Sir Alex Ferguson-style 'kidology', the Middlesbrough boss is well aware of the massive expectations currently being heaped on his Spurs counterpart, Martin Jol.

The recent capture of Edgar Davids, Teemu Tainio, Paul Stalteri and Wayne Routledge has bolstered a squad that already included a plethora of young domestic talent and led to a legion of pundits tipping Tottenham to be this season's ubiquitous 'dark horses'.

Those claims were strengthened by last weekend's impressive 2-0 win at Portsmouth and, with Boro providing the first test of Spurs' home form this season, McClaren has sought to pile even more pressure on this afternoon's opponents.

"There's a lot of expectation on Spurs because they've spent over £30m in two years," said the England number two, who was at Sven-Goran Eriksson's side as Spurs striker Jermain Defoe was hauled off at half-time during Wednesday's dramatic defeat in Denmark.

"The acquisition of Edgar Davids has certainly caused a stir and expectations are running very high. They had a good win last week, but the pressure is on them this season.

"They are yet to prove that they are amongst the elite. We edged them out of a UEFA Cup spot at the end of last season but, with the way they've invested, that's where they'll expect to be now.

"Tottenham is a big club and the pressure is on the management and the players to succeed."

There is also pressure on McClaren to improve on May's seventh-place finish, but the bad luck that seemed to follow Boro around last season is already rearing its ugly head this term.

The club's much-publicised move for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Rudolph Douala appears to have hit the buffers, while the absentee list is already beginning to mount despite the new season being just seven days old.

Defenders Chris Riggott, Stuart Parnaby and Tony McMahon have all been ruled out of today's game through injury, while Ugo Ehiogu is suspended following last weekend's dismissal against Liverpool.

"We've got a bit of a defensive crisis at the moment," admitted McClaren. "McMahon is out for a long while and Parnaby and Ehiogu are both sidelined.

"(Emanuel) Pogatetz is suspended and Riggott's just coming back into light training. We've got five defenders out, so it could be a chance for Matthew Bates."

Bates came off the bench last weekend as Boro attempted to plug the gap left by Ehiogu's red card and, while the teenager also made two substitute appearances last season, this afternoon's game should mark his first start for the first team.

The Stockton-born youngster, who spent a month on loan at Darlington earlier this year, has long been touted as a ready-made replacement for aging skipper Gareth Southgate, and McClaren has the utmost confidence in his ability to handle life at a higher level.

"There'll be no hesitation in putting Matthew in," he said. "He won't be fazed by it - he's got good experience. He's come into the Liverpool and Atletico Madrid games and done very well. We'd have no hesitation in doing that.

"He's played for England at all the age group levels and he's a local boy. He's one of those people who has got a great determination to be a player.

"He's got a great attitude and he's what I'd call a true defender - he likes defending. He likes to be aggressive and that's his strength."

Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink is likely to continue his partnership with newboy Yakubu, with McClaren also set to retain Stewart Downing on the left wing despite the temptation to flood the midfield with tough-tackling battlers.

Today's game will have added poignancy for the England international as he would have been lining up against his hometown team had Boro accepted Spurs' £7m bid for his services earlier this summer.

"Stewart's future has always been at Middlesbrough," stressed McClaren.

"He knows that and we've always stressed that to him.

"It's part and parcel of the game now. There's speculation about everybody and Stewart's got to learn how to cope with that.

"He'll always be talked about, but we're delighted he's signed a new contract."

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