Sweet fortune teases McClaren

Middlesbrough FC manager Steve McClaren believes victory in the UEFA Cup final against Sevilla FC would be the "icing on the cake" to what he describes as his perfect week as he prepares to take charge of the team for the final time.

England appointment
McClaren will leave the Premiership side after the match at the PSV Stadion in Eindhoven to join the England national side. He will work as Sven-Göran Eriksson's assistant at the FIFA World Cup finals in Germany before succeeding the Swede as head coach on 1 August having had his appointment confirmed last Thursday. "I'm relieved the England thing is out of the way but it was no problem during the process, we dealt with it, and it didn't affect our performances," McClaren told uefa.com. "I'm just pleased that it's done and dusted and I can concentrate on Wednesday. Winning the UEFA Cup would make it a perfect week. It'll be a proud moment leading them out on the night; to win it would be the icing on the cake. It's very, very exciting, not just for myself but for the whole town and the supporters."

Five-year stay
The manager's five years on Teesside have been marked by steady progress as McClaren guided Middlesbrough to a first major trophy in their 128-year history with victory in the 2004 English League Cup final, which brought a first foray into UEFA competition, an expedition that ended in defeat by Sporting Clube de Portugal in last season's UEFA Cup Round of 16. A seventh-placed finish in the Premiership last season, achieved thanks to Mark Schwarzer's last-minute penalty save from Manchester City FC's Robbie Fowler in the final game of the campaign, earned another shot at the UEFA Cup, the beginning of a remarkable journey which has featured away-goals victories against VfB Stuttgart and AS Roma and rousing fightbacks against FC Basel 1893 and FC Steaua Bucuresti.

'Memorable performances'
"It's difficult to sum up the journey," McClaren said. "That penalty save at Manchester City shows that it's such a thin line between success and failure. Against Basel and Steaua, you don't get two games like that in your career and we've just had two in the space of three weeks. We've seen some memorable performances and comebacks over the last two games that will never be forgotten. It's been an incredible run but Sevilla will be in exactly the same situation, looking at crucial moments and saying 'Our name might be on the cup'. It's who performs on the night, gets the breaks and the luck - and hopefully that will be us again."

Momentum building
Schwarzer, together with captain Gareth Southgate, Mark Viduka and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink should all be available, and McClaren believes their accumulated knowledge could tip the scales in his side's favour. "Experience is key, I'll be looking to get as much on that pitch as possible," he added. "But you have to do something to win it, and we must do the right things. We have to trust the players, they know what to do, they've got the experience to win matches in Europe. You don't want to go a goal down but you could see from the players' reaction, and the opposition's reaction, especially against Steaua, that they knew we were capable of coming back and that's something Sevilla have to watch out for. We never give up, never say die, we keep going. Sevilla are a very dangerous team and they've been among the favourites throughout. We're the underdogs who've come steaming through and hopefully that momentum will take us all the way."