MASSIMO MACCARONE believes his Middlesbrough career will be given a much-needed boost following the return from injury of Brazilian star Juninho.

Juninho made his first appearance in a Boro shirt this season when he made a goalscoring comeback as a half-time substitute in the 1-1 draw with Everton on Saturday.

The Brazilian was introduced along with Maccarone and Ugo Ehiogu as manager Steve McClaren looked to improve on a depressing first half showing.

It was Maccarone who played the ball across goal for Juninho to tap in from close range and the Italian is convinced he can finally show supporters what persuaded the Teessiders to pay £8.15m for him last summer.

Maccarone's agent, Paulo Fabri, also revealed that despite interest from big clubs in the striker's homeland, the player has a determination to enjoy life at the Riverside.

"Massimo is not happy at the moment - no player is happy on the bench," said Fabri, who knows Maccarone has only scored once since September 28. "But he is going nowhere, he has a will to succeed.

"I know clubs like Juve and Milan, where he began his career, are keen on him and that he is flattered by such talk, but he wants to stay and fight and show the Middlesbrough fans what he can do."

Maccarone was part of a Boro second-string that hammered Bradford City last week when Juninho made his comeback from a serious knee injury in front of a near 20,000 crowd.

And Fabri said: "Massimo proved he is a goalscorer when he scored four goals for the reserve side, but look who helped him.

"Juninho returned and had an assist for each of Massimo's goals - he can make all the difference to Massimo."

Juninho and Maccarone could find themselves lining up alongside one another again tomorrow night when Boro take on Newcastle United in the rearranged derby.

Forward Malcolm Christie, who was replaced at half-time on Saturday, has been struggling with a virus and may make way.

If he does then Maccarone is the likely replacement and McClaren could start Juninho in behind the front two.

And the World Cup winner has not felt any ill-effects from his first match action since suffering the knee ligament injury in a pre-season friendly in Italy.

Juninho said: "I feel OK. It's up to the manager now, he has to make his decision. He knows what players he has and he knows the best way to start and we have trust in him. Newcastle will be a tough game and we will have to play better to win."

McClaren is also likely to bring back Ugo Ehiogu into his starting line-up at the expense of January signing Chris Riggott.

Riggott, who signed on loan from Derby in January, suffered a knee injury against Everton and was seen by a specialist yesterday.

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