MIDDLESBROUGH'S Riverside pitch has been infected by a plague of worms tunnelling far below the surface to prolong their existence. But last night the club's footballers were the ones digging deep to ensure their UEFA Cup campaign did not suffer an untimely end.

A 1-0 defeat to Stuttgart ended a run of four consecutive wins but, with Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink and Stuart Parnaby's goals from the away leg counting double, Steve McClaren's men scraped into the last 16 of the competition with their dreams of European glory intact.

Christian Tiffert's early opener subjected the Teessiders to 77 minutes of nerve-jangling tension and, for much of the evening, it was the visitors who looked the more assured.

They were unable to add a second, though, and thanks to a sterling second-half defensive display from both Gareth Southgate and Chris Riggott, it is Boro who will face Italian giants Roma next month.

Not, of course, that they will be looking that far into the future.

Before the UEFA Cup returns to the schedule, Boro face crucial Premiership fixtures against relegation rivals West Brom and Birmingham and, on the evidence of last night's fragile first-half display, it would be wrong to take anything for granted. Tales of their recovery could well have been exaggerated.

It took 90 minutes of honest endeavour for Boro to gain the ascendancy seven days ago but, back on Teesside, it took just 13 minutes of lethargy for them to all but relinquish their advantage.

McClaren had spent most of the previous week insisting that the tie was not finished. By the end of a lackadaisical opening period, his words had adopted a strangely prophetic tone.

The game looked anything but finished in the fifth-minute when Jesper Gronkjaer's left-wing cross caused confusion at the heart of home side's defence. Silvio Meissner knocked the ball down on the edge of the six-yard box, but Mark Schwarzer was alert enough to parry Danijel Ljuboja's low shot.

It looked problematic two minutes later when Ljuboja, whose first-leg set-piece had given Stuttgart a glimmer of hope seven days earlier, flashed another 20-yard free-kick narrowly wide of Schwarzer's right-hand upright.

And it was entirely back in the balance when the visitors grabbed the goal they so richly deserved with 13 minutes on the clock.

Ljuboja was heavily involved again, taking Parnaby out of the equation with a delicate flick that afforded Tiffert a clear run on goal. The exposed Riggott made a desperate attempt to close him down, but the German midfielder kept his composure to steer a right-foot shot past Schwarzer's left hand. Suddenly, the game was very much on.

Boro's immediate response was muted with Hasselbaink, preferred to leading scorer Aiyegbeni Yakubu in continental competition yet again, struggling to make any headway at the tip of a 4-5-1 formation chosen for its combative qualities rather than its creative vision.

Hasselbaink guided a 21st-minute header into the arms of goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand but, with neither Stewart Downing nor Parnaby making much of an impression on the flanks, much of the home side's attacking was both pedestrian and predictable.

Confidence is clearly a fickle quality and, while it has gradually returned to the Boro ranks since this month's 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa, it remains fleeting. For much of the first half, Boro's players were a bundle of nerves. That the normally reliable George Boateng was one of the most fragile performers merely underlined the schizophrenic nature of Middlesbrough's season.

Things would have been even worse had Southgate not executed an inch-perfect sliding tackle to rob the rampaging Ljuboja five minutes before the break and, while Boro began the second half with the slenderest of advantages on the away goals rule, the momentum was undeniably with the visitors.

It should have swung in the opposite direction 52 seconds after the re-start but Hasselbaink, normally so reliable in a one-on-one situation, passed up a glorious opportunity to nip Stuttgart's renaissance in the bud.

Lee Cattermole sent the Dutchman scampering through the middle but, while he successfully beat the offside trap, he was unable to enjoy similar success against the advancing Hildebrand.

Hasselbaink's shot was on target, but the Stuttgart goalkeeper was able to block it with his chest.

At least the opportunity gave Boro cause for optimism and, with their opponents pressing for the goal they still needed to progress, the openings that did not exist in the first half gradually began to materialise.

There will still scares at the other end - Tiffert dragging a 20-yard shot narrowly wide after intelligent approach play from Christian Gentner - but, on the whole, the tie's knife-edge nature played into the Teessiders' hands.

Hasselbaink, in particular, made the most of his increased freedom and, after his 63rd-minute square ball found Gaizka Mendieta in space, only a dramatic goalline clearance from former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel prevented the Spaniard's drilled shot crossing the line.

Inevitably, Stuttgart redoubled their efforts as full-time approached.

But, while Boro spent most of the final ten minutes mounting a desperate rearguard action, their obduracy ultimately proved successful.

Result: Middlesbrough 0, Stuttgart 1. (2 - 2 on aggregate. Boro win on away goals rule.)

Read more about Middlesbrough here.