AS Middlesbrough's fans waited for last night's FA Cup quarter-final with Charlton to get underway, they were treated to a performance from veteran crooner Tony Christie.

Forget directions to Amarillo. Despite an utterly under-whelming goalless draw at the Valley, the travelling Teessiders are more interested in asking for the way to Cardiff. With a Riverside replay to look forward to next month, their hopes of FA Cup glory are still very much alive.

Indeed, with a UEFA Cup quarter-final with FC Basle also on the agenda next month, things have turned around dramatically since Steve McClaren had a season ticket thrown in his face earlier this year.

Just as Christie's career has undergone an unexpected renaissance, so Middlesbrough's season has flourished after it appeared to have run its course.

If it is not to falter again, though, McClaren's men will have to ally some attacking creativity to the trademark defensive resilience they displayed last night.

With both Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu performing heroically at the heart of defence, Boro mounted a spirited rearguard action to keep out a Charlton side bidding to break their club's record of seven successive FA Cup defeats at the hands of the Teessiders.

But, while the Addicks appeared to be there for the taking for much of the game, none of Boro's attackers were able to fashion the kind of clear-cut opening that might have negated the need for yet another addition to their already packed schedule.

That the visitors' first shot on target did not come until the 84th minute said just about everything about their lack of creative vision.

Nevertheless, the draw means McClaren's men will still be interested observers when the semi-final draw takes place this afternoon. With their European hopes also still intact, a repeat of 1997's twin cup final appearances is not out of the question.

Perhaps it should be no surprise that Middlesbrough are a different proposition when it comes to the cup competitions. After all, with McClaren rotating his resources at every available opportunity, they are effectively a different team whenever they compete in the Premiership.

Last night's side contained only three players who started this month's 2-1 defeat at the Valley - Mark Schwarzer, Franck Queudrue and Ehiogu - and boasted seven changes from the starting line-up that lost at Blackburn last weekend.

With the likes of Southgate, Stewart Downing, Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Aiyegbeni Yakubu back in the fold, it was hardly difficult to ascertain where McClaren's priorities lie.

The FA and UEFA Cups have energised an otherwise subdued season and, while last night's stalemate was hardly the ideal result, they will continue to do so for at least another three weeks.

It could have been even better for Boro had Yakubu not wasted their best chance of the night after just three minutes.

Queudrue, preferred to Emanuel Pogatetz on the left flank, picked out the Nigerian on the edge of the six-yard box but, with Charlton's defenders failing to sense the danger, Yakubu directed the simplest of headers more than a foot over the crossbar. Given the striker's imperious form this season, it was a startling miss.

It could also have proved a costly one had Charlton not wasted their opening opportunity 12 minutes later.

The Addicks had barely crossed the halfway line when Chris Powell slung a hopeful long ball forward but, after Shaun Bartlett directed a cushioned header towards Matt Holland, the Irishman fired a stinging half-volley narrowly wide of the upright.

Suddenly, Charlton were in the ascendancy, a position they retained for the remainder of the first half. Jerome Thomas' trickery troubled Stuart Parnaby in the right-back berth, while Darren Bent's pace was a constant irritation to the ageing legs of both Southgate and Ehiogu.

Yet, for all of the home side's first-half prompting, the Boro goal was not threatened again until the 36th minute.

Radostin Kishishev's right-wing cross caused confusion in the Teessiders' ranks but, after Hermann Hreidarsson had pulled into space at the back post, Mark Schwarzer produced a wonderful one-handed save to claw away his goalbound half-volley.

The agility of that stop underlined the Australian's value, but the more impetuous side of his game was also in evidence as half-time approached.

Jumping to clear ahead of Hreidarrson, Schwarzer injured his knee and was forced to hobble back towards his goalmouth.

The knock would hardly have mattered had he punched the ball out of danger but, after failing to clear his lines, he was forced to watch on helplessly as Bent diverted Bryan Hughes' knock-down on to the outside of the left-hand post. Had the ball gone to the other side of the upright, Schwarzer would have had a red face to accompany his bruised knee.

As it was, he gradually regained his composure in the second half, along with the rest of his team-mates. The one-way traffic of the opening period was replaced by a more even contest, although free-flowing football remained at a premium as both sides looked to the long ball to unlock their opponents' increasingly untroubled defence.

Downing and Lee Cattermole wasted decent openings for the visitors, while Bent failed to find a team-mate after skipping past Southgate on the byline. On the whole, though, endeavour served to stifle invention.

Even the introduction of the recently free-scoring Mark Viduka failed to stir the Teessiders from their torpor, despite the Australian displaying a far more assured touch than the out-of-sorts Yakubu, the man he replaced.

Fellow substitute James Morrison did lift the mood somewhat as full-time approached - former Sunderland goalkeeper Thomas Myhre had to be at his most alert to tip the youngster's low strike around the post - but the deadlock was never seriously threatened before the full-time whistle blew.

* Leeds have completed the loan signing of young Middlesbrough striker Danny Graham, while defender Rui Marques has joined Hull.

Highly-rated Graham, 20, had been on loan at Derby since November and made 14 appearances for the Rams without scoring.

The England Under-20 striker returned to the Riverside Stadium at the end of February.

But he has not featured for Steve McClaren's first team since a late substitute appearance in the 2-1 home win over Arsenal back in September.

Result: Charlton Athletic 0, Middlesbrough 0.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.