MIDDLESBROUGH might be sponsored by a leading satellite navigation system this season, but one of their most celebrated former sons will hardly need electronic assistance to find the Riverside as he makes an eagerly-awaited return to Teesside tomorrow.

Three months ago, Mark Viduka entered the Riverside dressing rooms having played the final game of a Middlesbrough career that stretched across three seasons and incorporated 42 goals. That he is returning so quickly should ensure that the latest instalment of football's Tees-Tyne rivalry is more emotionally charged than ever.

After all, few footballers divide opinion as readily as Viduka, a player who declined the offer of a contract extension at Middlesbrough to move to St James' Park in the summer.

To some Boro fans, he is an over-rated turncoat whose impressive scoring record concealed month-long periods when he would all but disappear without trace.

To others, though, he will forever be associated with two of the greatest nights in the club's history. Massimo Maccarone might have been hailed as Boro's stoppage-time saviour during 2006's epic UEFA Cup victories over Basle and Steaua Bucharest, but it was Viduka who did most to transform the club's fortunes, scoring twice in the quarter-final and once in the last four.

Without the Australian, there would be no "Spirit of Steaua", a moniker that is unfurled on a giant flag at the Riverside before every home game.

And while the striker has moved on, he is happy to admit that he has taken a little bit of Middlesbrough with him as a reminder of those heady times.

"Those games are ones I'll remember for the rest of my life," said Viduka, who missed a glorious chance to score a UEFA Cup final equaliser when Boro's Spanish opponents, Sevilla, were leading 1-0. "I still watch them. I got a couple of the DVD packages Boro were selling in their shop and I still put them on.

"Who knows what we could have achieved but, now that the dust has settled, I think we did well for a club that had never been in Europe before.

"To qualify for Europe two seasons in a row and get to the UEFA Cup final was something special. Not many clubs have done that, especially when it's their first two seasons of European football."

Playing in the UEFA Cup final was unquestionably the highlight of Viduka's three years at the Riverside, a period that ended with him finishing last season as the club's leading goalscorer.

His departure led some within the club to question whether his value had been over-stated, though, with chief executive Keith Lamb branding him "less-than-prolific" after he confirmed his intention to join the Magpies.

Viduka has largely kept his counsel since making the switch from Tees to Tyne, but it is clear that Lamb's comments upset a player who regularly courted controversy during previous spells at Celtic and Leeds.

"Keith Lamb had a lot of pressure on him and he wanted to react," he said. "I gave everything in every game. Some games I didn't play well, some I did.

"If I didn't play well, I wouldn't have had any clubs after me. I would like to think I played well for Boro, but some footballers go unappreciated.

"To be honest, at the time I was surprised they didn't open contract talks earlier. Most people, including other players there, were surprised no offer was made earlier.

"It is disappointing as a player when you have played for a club and you want to do well and it comes to a point where you don't know if you are staying or going with six months of your contract left to go."

In the end, of course, he left, spurning alternative offers from the likes of West Ham and Portsmouth to join the Magpies.

After more than a decade as a professional, Viduka is far too canny to be drawn into an argument over the varying merits of tomorrow's opponents, and when he was asked to describe the difference between Newcastle and Middlesbrough earlier this week, he deadpanned "40 miles".

But while the 31-year-old insists he is hardly your stereotypical spy in the camp - "I don't know that much about football to be honest, so when it comes to explaining tactics and all that, I'm just not very good at it" - it is clear that tomorrow's game is one that has been marked in his diary from the moment the fixtures were published.

"It's probably a good thing to get it out of the way and get a good result," he explained. "Everyone asks me about what reception I'll get, but I honestly haven't got a clue.

"I hope it's a positive one, but if it's negative it won't change the way I feel about the supporters and all that.

"I suppose it would be a natural reaction in the circumstances."

Viduka's reaction will also be closely scrutinised, particularly if he breaks his Newcastle scoring duck on the ground where he helped Middlesbrough defeat the Magpies last season.

The Australian has never played against one of his former employers - Leeds were relegated in the season before he moved to the North-East - but he does not intend to celebrate if he makes a scoring return to Teesside tomorrow.

"Scoring goals is what I do and I love it," said Viduka. "But I think it'll be a different reaction against my old club.

"I've never scored against one of my clubs before because I've never played against one of them.

"It'll be a totally new experience, but I have to admit that I might not celebrate if I find the back of the net."