SLEEPLESS Steve McClaren has admitted Middlesbrough currently find themselves in their biggest crisis since he took charge in 2001, and has demanded his players hold their nerve ahead of tonight's visit of non-League Nuneaton Borough.

The Boro boss has not reached the insomnia stage just yet, but has found his normal night-time routine spoiled by the dismal run of form that has seen the Teessiders drop into the bottom four.

McClaren's men last tasted victory in the Premiership on November 20, with the immediate target to scrap their way through to the fourth round of the FA Cup and out of the relegation fight they are currently in.

McClaren can only hope they reached the nadir with Saturday's dismal 7-0 defeat at Arsenal, and the Boro boss is calling for a convincing victory over the Nationwide North side this evening to give the fans back their self-belief.

"I'm normally a very good sleeper, but been waking up early recently - trying to find solutions," said McClaren, who started his career as Boro boss four and a half years ago with four straight defeats.

"You get no sleep, wondering day and night what you can improve on. I hope the players are sleeping better than I am.

"We've never been this low but we've got the characters - I have the character, the staff have, the players have - to get us out of this situation.

"We owe it to ourselves, each other, the fans. They understand the situation we're in. We've got to deliver, to give the fans their self-belief back.

"Being in the spotlight, being under pressure, we should relish that. That's when you should be able to perform.

"I think the game (Nuneaton) is tougher now than it seemed on Thursday or Friday simply because of the confidence factor.

"We've got something to prove to the fans as much as ourselves in the performance we give. We have to be totally committed."

With injuries to key men like George Boateng and Gareth Southgate, McClaren could be forgiven for rushing back long-term injury victims Stewart Downing and Ray Parlour for tonight's game.

The two returned to reserve team action last week, but the Boro boss is refusing to jump the gun on any of his injured players.

He said: "It's too early for Downing and Parlour, it's a temptation, but a temptation that we can't afford. We can't take the risk. We've got to make sure we keep a clear head - you have to hold your nerve in a crisis, that's the biggest thing.''

The players day off on Sunday was cancelled as the coaching staff attempted to bring a swift conclusion to events at Highbury.

McClaren admitted he had no intention of making the players watch a video of the game on Saturday, believing there was little to gain from a detailed analysis of each player's performance.

Nuneaton were also on the end of a comprehensive defeat on Saturday, beaten 3-0 by Redditch United, with their minds firmly on tonight's replay - their fans expected to make up a quarter of an expected crowd of around 20,000.

McClaren said: "When you get a defeat like that you can over-analyse. We haven't got time for that.

"Of course it hurt. I'd be surprised if it didn't hurt everybody. It was a humbling experience, an embarrassing experience.

"It's always difficult to go to Highbury but that doesn't take away manner of defeat. There were a lot of reasons for it, but no excuses.

"We've moved on quickly and learned the lessons. We got them in on Sunday and now we're totally focused on Nuneaton.

"We've got great respect for Nuneaton. We know what they're going to give and we know there's going to be 5,000 supporters. We know anything can happen and we've got to make sure it doesn't.

"We have a period coming up where we've got to get results. Every game is significant for us. We want a good cup run, then we move onto Wigan. It's a big period for us at this football club."

McClaren's role as an England coach in Sven Goran Eriksson's national team set-up would appear to qualify him to comment on the Swede's latest indiscretion.

The two met up at Highbury on Saturday but the Boro manager was in no mood to join those twisting the knife into Eriksson, especially after the Arsenal humiliation.

"I'm trying to sort out things at Boro. I've got enough problems here,'' he said. "At present I'm not in an ideal position to comment on anything (except Middlesbrough)."

* James Morrison is a doubt tonight with a hip injury, Emanuel Pogatetz returns after a one-game ban, while Brad Jones is expected to be fit to start in goal.

Probable team: Jones; Parnaby, Riggott, Bates, Pogatetz; Morrison, Mendieta, Cattermole, Johnson; Viduka, Yakubu.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.