STEVE McClaren last night claimed his Middlesbrough side were capable of producing an unlikely escape act in next week's UEFA Cup quarter-final second leg.

Last night's 2-0 defeat in Basle has left the Teessiders' European hopes hanging by a thread.

A two-goal victory is the minimum requirement next Thursday, although Boro will need to score four goals if their Swiss opponents are able to add to last night's first-half double.

That would be a considerable achievement given the ease with which Basle's defenders negated the threat of both Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka last night.

Nevertheless, McClaren remains confident his side have the ability to overcome the odds at the Riverside.

And, after they slammed four past Bolton last weekend, he insists they have not suffered irreparable damage at the halfway stage.

"We need to score goals," admitted the Boro boss. "But we have done that before.

"If we can score four against Bolton, we can score four against anybody. We will be a threat - I have no doubt about that.

"We know we can score and we know we can play better than that. We go to the Riverside with a mountain to climb, but we are capable of doing just that."

History, however, is not on Middlesbrough's side.

This is only the second time they have been behind following the first leg of a UEFA Cup tie and, on the last time it happened, Sporting Lisbon dumped them out of the competition at the Jose Alvalade Stadium.

"This is what Europe is all about," added McClaren. "This is why we are in Europe - we want to be playing is these kind of big games.

"You have to come back from adversity somewhere down the line. You don't win a competition like this without surviving a few scares and that is exactly what we have to do."

Boro's task would have been easier had they not conceded a quickfire double during three minutes of madness at the end of the first half.

Chris Riggott ducked under Matias Delgado's shot as he chanced his arm from long range, before Franck Queudrue lost David Degen as the midfielder raced clear of the visitors' defence.

"The two goals epitomised what European football is all about," said McClaren.

"You lose concentration for a split second and, suddenly, you are 2-0 down. That is what disappointed me the most.

"I thought we looked very comfortable for the first 40 minutes, but we allowed the opposition to score.

"The first was something of a lucky goal, but we certainly shouldn't have conceded the second.

"The only positive is that we didn't go on to concede a third. Chris Riggott's clearance off the line (from Scott Chipperfield's goalbound shot) could yet prove to be the defining moment of the tie."

Things got even worse for Boro when a bone-crunching clash of heads with Mladen Petric left defender Emanuel Pogatetz with a broken nose suspected fractured skull.

The Austrian defender was taken to hospital for scans and the Teessiders will continue to monitor his situation.

"He has a broken nose and we think he might have fractured his skull," confirmed McClaren. "He's been rushed to hospital and his nose is all over the place."

* Javier Saviola put Sevilla in sight of a semi-final spot when his two goals helped the Spanish club win their quarter-final first-leg match 4-1 with nine-man Zenit St Petersburg.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.