STEVE McClaren last night criticised Middlesbrough's stay-away fans after a crowd of less than 15,000 watched his side kick-off their European campaign with a 2-0 win over Greek minnows Xanthi.

George Boateng and Mark Viduka fired Boro to the verge of the UEFA Cup group stage, but the major talking point of the night was the banks of vacant seats on all four sides of the Riverside Stadium.

The attendance of 14,191 was some 20,000 less that the ground's capacity - more watched Michael Owen's five-minute introduction at St James' Park earlier this month - and McClaren admitted he was left thoroughly disappointed by the resounding no-show.

"We worked so hard last season to get into Europe," said a reflective Middlesbrough manager. "So we are all very disappointed.

"We had such a good run in Europe last season and we all enjoyed it immensely. We put in so much effort to get European football again this season because we see that as the measure of success.

"This was the first game and it's very disappointing. As for the reasons, I just don't know.

"The chairman has worked very hard for this football club and I feel sorry on his behalf. He wanted to bring European football to Middlesbrough and it's disappointing for him that the team hasn't been backed by the fans."

Those supporters who did make it into the ground witnessed a subdued Boro display in which the home side were fortunate not to concede a crucial away goal during a fraught 15 minutes at the start of the second half.

Viduka's late strike - the ball took a significant deflection off French defender Jacques Paviot - gave McClaren's side some much-needed breathing space ahead of this month's second leg in Greece, but the England number two has insisted that the job is not yet done.

"We're satisfied with the result," he said. "I said to the players at the start that we wanted a clean sheet and we wanted two goals.

"By the end of the game we managed that, but we know that the tie is far from over. There are no easy games in Europe any more - just look at what happened to Bolton and Everton tonight if you need evidence of that.

"There's still a long way to go but, as things stand, we are at a satisfactory halfway stage."

* Everton boss David Moyes refused to condemn his players publicly despite a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Dinamo Bucharest.

The Goodison side fell away after a decent first half performance to leave themselves facing an uphill task in the second leg on September 29 if they are to reach the second round of the UEFA Cup.

After the first round, first-leg humbling he said: ''There will be no public condemnation of any of my players - but privately we will speak together and we will stick together.

''In the first half we did a good job and we could have been in front - but we were not at it in the second half.

''It's maybe my lowest ebb as a manager, as bad a night as I have had.

''In the first half we controlled the game but in the second half it was too easy for them to score.

''I feel for the fans and it's my responsibility to raise morale in the camp - it's my team out there.''

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