MIDDLESBROUGH admit they were priced out of a move for Peter Crouch in the summer.

Today they come face-to-face with the gangly England striker for the first time since then, but manager Steve McClaren is more than happy with his lot, having witnessed his own expensive £7.5m striker bag eight goals in 14 Premiership appearances since arriving at the Riverside Stadium.

Having spent so heavily on Yakubu at the end of the last campaign, McClaren was never really in a position to snap up Crouch from Southampton when Liverpool became interested.

When the Saints started to hike up the price, the Reds were left on their own in the race for his signature and eventually gambled by agreeing to pay £7.5m.

Since Crouch's arrival, he has been pilloried by most of the country after struggling to find the net for club or country.

He ended more than 24 hours of football without scoring in the win over Wigan last weekend, a run which spanned 21 Liverpool games this season.

But McClaren, whose defence failed to deal with Crouch when he scored two goals and created one in a 3-1 March win at the Riverside, feels the 23-year-old does not deserve to have the boo-boys on his back.

Crouch, suspended for the opening-day match on Teesside, is likely to be in the Liverpool front-line when Boro travel to Anfield for a lunch-time kick-off today and McClaren is urging his players to be on their guard.

"We inquired about him because I knew Crouch from working with him for England and he was on the market," said McClaren. "We were looking at younger players and Crouch came up as one of them that they might let go.

"He wasn't viable in the end and we had just acquired Yakubu. We already had Jimmy (Floyd Hasselbaink) and Mark (Viduka) as well.

"It wouldn't have been a gamble because of the price. It was more that we had just bought Yakubu, although I have always admired him.

"Crouch did not deserve the criticism he has received for Liverpool or England. Peter Crouch is one player we will have to be aware of. "But Liverpool will have to watch for Yakubu - he was always our first choice. We tried to get him in January the previous season and we have been rewarded with his goals."

If Crouch is a player to have been surrounded by question marks, there is no doubting the quality of one man wearing a Liverpool shirt today - Steven Gerrard.

For the second week running, following last weekend's battle with Frank Lampard at Chelsea, Boro midfielder George Boateng will have his work cut out in trying to cope with the threat of one of the world's finest midfielders.

Boateng, out of contract in the summer, is free to talk to other clubs on January 1 about a possible summer move, but McClaren is desperate to keep him on board.

The Boro boss is convinced the Dutchman is more than capable of dealing with the threat of Gerrard.

"We want George to stay, he wants to stay, so when you get that you are very close to a deal," said McClaren.

"He has come on from that player who was one of the best at playing the holding role when I signed him.

"He is more of an all-rounder now. His attitude and commitment are first-class.

"He is a top footballer when he plays to his strengths.

"Gerrard is a big player for Liverpool in terms of attacking and defending.

"Like last week with Lampard, Gerrard is one player we will need to take care of."

After a sticky start to Premiership life this season, when they won just one of their opening six matches, Liverpool have climbed up to a Champions League spot during a run of nine games without conceding in all competitions.

But Boro, who lost at Chelsea last weekend, head to Merseyside without losing back-to-back matches in 30 outings and looking to start a run of nine games inside four weeks in perfect manner.

"These are exciting times for us. This club has a target of getting into Europe or winning a competition," said McClaren, with no fresh injury worries ahead of the trip.

"We have done well in Europe, progressed, and we want to win the Carling Cup.

"I'd rather be in this position than anything else. Being in Europe is fantastic and the players are coping with it very well.

"Liverpool have found the consistency through clean sheets. We won't find consistency until we find clean sheets. That will be a factor this season.

"We have a long way to go if we are to find the consistency that will take us up to be contenders for a Champions League place."

Boro, after keeping two cleans sheets in their opening two games, have failed to stop Premiership opposition scoring since winning at Birmingham on August 23

Read more about Middlesbrough here.