TWENTY years after he helped rescue Middlesbrough from oblivion, chairman Steve Gibson is hoping to celebrate the anniversary of the club's rebirth with a unique cup double.

Two decades ago, Boro stood on the brink of a financial disaster that would eventually end in liquidation. The gates at Ayresome Park were locked as the club's players were forced to train on a local park and they remained closed as Boro became temporary tenants of neighbours Hartlepool United.

But, if 1986 marked Middlesbrough's nadir, 2006 could yet represent the greatest season in the club's 130-year history.

Steve McClaren's side are in Basle tonight as they experience the heady atmosphere of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals for the very first time. The return leg takes place on Teesside next week before, six days later, the Riverside plays host to an FA Cup quarter-final replay with Charlton.

These are heady times indeed and, if Gibson gets his way, they will get even headier. With either Steaua or Rapid Bucharest to come in a prospective UEFA Cup semi-final, and West Ham laying in wait at the same stage domestically, the Gods have smiled kindly on the Teessiders. It is an opportunity that is theirs to seize.

"It's a big, big couple of weeks for the club, the town and the team," said Gibson, who was the youngest member of the Middlesbrough board that steered the club to safety in the 1980s.

"I can't remember anything like it - we're in the quarter-finals of two of the biggest cups in football.

"There are great expectations around the place and it will be a big disappointment if we don't quite get there now. The season is on a knife-edge, but I'd rather be involved in it than not.

"To be honest, I'd take either cup - I'm not fussy. Twenty years ago, this club was on its knees. It's fitting that the anniversary could bring us a very special reward."

Last season, Boro crashed out of the UEFA Cup in the second knockout round but, having beaten Italian giants Roma at the same stage of this season's competition, there is a growing maturity to Middlesbrough's play.

The Teessiders clearly feel that they belong on the exalted European stage and even the absence of the suspended George Boateng and Lee Cattermole and the injured Gareth Southgate has not diluted the squad's optimism ahead of this evening's visit to St Jakob Park.

Boro's propensity for shooting themselves in the foot, however, remains. The memory of December's timid exit from the Carling Cup looms large, although Gibson hopes the pain of that missed opportunity will spur his side forward tonight.

"We don't want to lose out like we did against Blackburn," he said. "That hurt a lot because we were in the quarter-finals then as well.

"The feeling in the club is that we've got a real chance of progressing to the next round (of the UEFA Cup) or even beyond but, in football, the next game is always the most important.

"Nothing is certain in this game, it's totally unpredictable and I think we've seen the best and worst of that this year. But we think we have the players, the structure and the set-up to get us through these next two games.

"We have to make sure that we end what's been, at times, a difficult season on a high.

"Our league position has been disappointing for everybody involved and, even in the cups, we haven't achieved anything yet. We have to remember that as a group - but we're quietly confident of putting it right."

McClaren is similarly upbeat, although the Boro boss has also pointed to Basle's incredible home record - the Swiss side have not lost a league game at their own ground for more than two seasons - as evidence of tonight's opponents' strength.

The last time the Teessiders played an away leg first in Europe, they won 2-1 in Stuttgart and clung on to their lead on home soil.

This evening's performance is likely to be every bit as positive as the dominant display that won that game, with McClaren citing Arsenal's 2-0 win over Juventus as proof of the potency of a high-tempo game plan.

"It was a fantastic performance by Arsenal," said the Boro boss. "And it just showed that, if you play at an English tempo, clubs in Europe will struggle.

"That has always been the emphasis of our performances in Europe - to upset the opposition - and that is what we'll try to do again.

"It is difficult because there's so much optimism, but as we saw with Juventus, it only takes one bad performance and it can be all over just like that. You need to keep your focus in European matches and you need your players to stay strong."

Unfortunately, for McClaren, some of his strongest players will not be involved tonight.

The absence of both Boateng and Cattermole is a major loss in midfield, while Southgate's experience proved invaluable amid the frenzy of Rome's Stadio Olimpico. With Chris Riggott also facing a late fitness test on his injured calf, Boro could yet be shorn of four of their leading lights.

"We are missing some big players," admitted McClaren.

"But we've been missing big players all season and the players who have come in have taken their opportunities and proved their worth to the squad.

"They'll have to do so again."

Likely line-ups

BASLE (4-5-1): Zuberbuhler; Majstorovic, Berner, Smiljanic, Zammi; Chipperfield, Ba, Delgado, Degen, Petric; Eduardo.

BORO (4-4-2): Schwarzer; Parnaby, Ehiogu, Queudrue, Pogatetz; Mendieta, Doriva, Parlour, Downing; Hasselbaink, Viduka.

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