STEVE McCLAREN last night revealed the huge relief felt by the entire Middlesbrough camp when James Morrison regained consciousness in the dressing room after yesterday's pulsating draw with Tottenham.

As injury-time approached, Morrison lay sprawled motionless on the Riverside turf after the boot of Spurs' Robbie Keane struck the youngster in the face.

Worrying minutes past by as both physios and stadium medics rushed to the Darlington youngster, before he was carried off on a stretcher unconscious.

It has emerged Morrison, who is unlikely to play in Wednesday's Carling Cup quarter-final with Blackburn, is fine, and McClaren described the moment he found out his player had recovered.

"I don't think it is as bad as first thought," said McClaren. "He came off unconscious but was conscious in the dressing room. He had a smile on his face when we all walked in and we will be assessing him in the next 24 hours.

"It looked very serious on the field. The medical team and physios dealt with the situation quickly. He was kicked in the head, it was an accident.

"You know in those situations how serious they are by the players' reactions. From the distance we are at on the line, you don't really know how bad it is. It's worse for the players. It was worrying."

Despite Boro's outstanding display going forward, when Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson kept the score down with a number of top class saves, the three conceded ensured a much-needed three points never arrived.

And McClaren, well aware his side have not kept a clean sheet in the league since August, has admitted he is disappointed at the way Boro failed to secure a vital win after two successive league defeats.

"I asked for a performance of attitude and if it wasn't for Paul Robinson we would have had a bagful. Paul made some outstanding stops," said McClaren, whose side are now eight points from the top six spot they crave.

"You can't really say we defended badly either. There were three individual errors. Two from set-pieces. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot because 95 per cent of our performance was terrific and yet people not doing their jobs have cost us.

"We are not far away and if we can eradicate those mistakes we will win plenty football matches. No team has scored more goals at home than we have. It's very frustrating and I'm very angry at the outcome."

Striker Aiygbeni Yakubu's double means he now has ten league goals - more than half way towards becoming the first Boro player in more than 50 years to score 20 top-flight goals - since arriving from Portsmouth in a £7.5m deal in the summer.

His form looks just perfect ahead of a gruelling festive league fixture list that will see Boro play Blackburn, Bolton, Manchester City and Newcastle in the space of eight days.

And McClaren believes his squad can't be too downbeat and should focus on the positives.

"Tottenham were a very good team but to be honest we should have won," he said. "We had enough chances. This squad is a year older and you saw how far we have come by coming from behind to take the lead. There's character in the team and you saw that.

"I was pleased with the way we went about things. The players were full of doom and gloom in the dressing room but I have said there's a lot to play for. We are in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup and the last eight of the Carling Cup.

"We are close to being a very good side. We are capable of putting a very good run together. We are always going to score goals."

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