TOUGH-TALKING chairman Steve Gibson has insisted Middlesbrough will continue to take a zero tolerance stance on drugs after Abel Xavier's B sample failed to clear his name.

After learning of the latest find, Gibson last night vowed to crack down on any Boro player who steps out of line by declaring that there is no room for leniency.

The two urine samples Xavier gave in Greece on September 29, after playing in the match with Xanthi, have tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance, believed to be Dianabol.

The Portuguese defender will now answer the charge in front of a UEFA disciplinary committee on November 17, when he will be trying to avoid a lengthy ban.

Xavier, who signed a one-year contract, is unlikely to play for Boro again. And Gibson has warned the board, who have not allowed the player back to the club until the suspension has been lifted, will continue to take a hard-line.

"There is absolutely no place for drugs in professional sport and Middlesbrough Football Club will always be at the forefront of the war on drugs," said Gibson.

"We have a zero tolerance policy to all forms of drugs, be they recreational or performance enhancing, and we are proud of our record as far as our policy goes.

"We fully expect UEFA to look into this case closely and professionally and we will adhere to any punishment they see fit, should the player concerned be found guilty. In fact, we will back their judgement in this matter wholeheartedly.

"It is my view and the view of the club, that there is no place for illegal drugs of any description at our club. We won't tolerate it.

"The player concerned is contracted to the club only until the end of the season. Since he has been suspended he has not been back at the club, nor has he trained at the club. If any other similar case came up, which we sincerely hope does not happen, we would take exactly the same course of action."

There was no word from the Xavier camp yesterday but it is understood he will continue to deny any intentional wrongdoing. He has vigorously claimed the legal supplements he was taking were contaminated.

"The sample B is positive, it's confirmed," said a UEFA spokesman. "The control and disciplinary board of UEFA will judge his case at a hearing which has been provisionally set for November 17."

The 32-year-old was given a suspension last month after the A sample had revealed banned substances. But he has been actively compiling a dossier of evidence in a bid to prove his innocence.

If found guilty, Xavier could be suspended for anything up to two years, although as it would be a first offence that could be reduced to a year.

Either way a ban would spell the end of his days on Teesside and it could also bring to an end a career that has seen him play for Liverpool, Everton and Italian giants Roma, among others.

He was drafted in by manager Steve McClaren in the summer as an experienced right-back following the departure of Michael Reiziger to PSV Eindhoven.

But Xavier is thought to stand by his initial statement, released through his lawyers when the news about his first sample broke.

At the time he said: "I am convinced that there is a reasonable and entirely harmless explanation for such a positive finding, should it be confirmed by the analysis of the B-sample.

"Given the fact that the anti-doping regulations establish a purely objective responsibility (the athlete is guilty as of the moment when the most minor trace of a prohibited substance is found in his body), I currently have - and this is not easy - to furnish scientific and factual proof to establish that if a prohibited substance is found in my body, this is by no means because I would have had the intention to 'dope' myself. I have never had this intention.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.