MIDDLESBROUGH are to be reunited with controversial South American Emerson later this month after they were paired with Greek outfit FC Xanthi in the first round of the UEFA Cup.

The Brazilian, whose Teesside career became marred by his vanishing acts, was part of the never-to-be-forgotten team that reached two cup finals and was relegated in 1997 along with Fabrizio Ravanelli and Juninho.

The following January he completed a £4.2m move to Spanish side Tenerife and delivered a parting shot to chief executive Keith Lamb and chairman Steve Gibson.

Emerson claimed he had been treated like a 'manual labourer' by Lamb and had no choice but to leave Boro for the Canary Islands instead of sticking around to play in the Football league.

Now Emerson, the biggest name in the Xanthi line-up, will be back at the Riverside on Thursday, September 15 to face Boro in the first leg of the UEFA Cup.

And McClaren, not concerned about what has gone on in the past, will be warning his team to be wary of the powerful midfielder, who went on to have spells at Rangers and Vasco de Gama.

"Emerson was a good signing here and played very well for this club," said McClaren.

"I remember him from when I was at Derby (as first team coach). We came up against him on a number of occasions and he was very dangerous on his day.

"We know he is a very good player and we will be watching out for him.

" We do have a year's experience at this level though and my players will be able to cope with what's thrown at them."

Xanthi finished fourth in the Greek league last season - two places above Egaleo who Boro beat en route to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup last term - and are from a remote part of the country that borders Bulgaria and Macedonia.

And McClaren said: "Playing in Europe creates an extra buzz.

"We have something to look forward to, don't we?

"Just yesterday we were all excited about the draw being made while most other clubs were just going about training in the normal way.

"We don't know much about Xanthi. But there are no easy games in Europe and we saw that last year against Banik Ostrava and Egaleo."

McClaren, who revealed he is no further in his moves for Sporting Lisbon pair Rudolph Douala and Fabio Rochemback, has summer signing Emanuel Pogatetz available for tomorrow's game with Charlton.

Pogatetz has missed the first two matches through suspension but is free to make his debut - although Franck Queudrue should retain his place after scoring in the midweek win at Birmingham.

l Bolton's first foray into European football will be against Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Plovdiv, a club whose links to organised crime were brutally highlighted by the assassination of their owner on Thursday night.

Georgi Iliev, a 39-year-old businessman, was shot in the chest by a sniper armed with a rifle while at a restaurant after his club's 1-0 win over OFK Belgrade secured them a place in the UEFA Cup first round.

Iliev was under investigation by police who believed he was involved in organised crime - his brother was murdered five years ago.

Everton will also be heading to eastern Europe as their consolation for failing to qualify for the Champions League is an encounter with Dinamo Bucharest.

Hibernian, Scotland's lone representative in the competition, face Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk from Ukraine while Ireland's Cork City face powerful opponents in Slavia Prague of the Czech Republic