Middlesbrough's Under-19s are due to face Paris St Germain on Wednesday night, chief football writer PAUL FRASER wrote this column for the Boro match-day programme

LEADING Middlesbrough to promotion back to the Premier League is clearly highest in Aitor Karanka’s thinking – and it will be on everyone else’s mind as he looks to end a five match run without a win against Cardiff tonight.

But once the final whistle has blown, over the 24 hours which follow consider the next generation of young players coming through at the Teesside club once more.

On Wednesday night Middlesbrough’s Under-19s, led by the brilliant coaching duo of Craig Liddle and Mark Tinkler, will be walking out in the French capital in the last-16 of the UEFA Youth League.

If that wasn’t mouth-watering enough, the prospect of facing 11 Paris St Germain shirts just eight days after Chelsea’s senior ranks took on the star-studded PSG line-up in the Champions League should whet the appetite even more.

A victory at the Stade Georges Lefevre – possibly in front of Laurent Blanc - will set up an even greater night; with the winners of the PSV Eindhoven v Roma tie drawn to travel to the Riverside on March 8/9. That’s without even considering the possibility of a date with Real Madrid, Manchester City or Benfica in the last four.

This is the third year of the competition and, to put the standard into perspective, Barcelona won the first and Chelsea are the reigning champions. This is the first time that the domestic Under-18s winners, like Middlesbrough, have joined the 32 teams to have qualified courtesy of their senior team’s involvement in the Champions League.

That is why it is already an achievement for Middlesbrough to be where they are – and the impressive victories over Dinamo Kiev, Torini and Stade de Reims prove it.

Back in 2004 the success of Middlesbrough’s crop in the FA Youth Cup proved a historical moment. Having lifted the trophy for the first time in the club’s history, the likes of James Morrison, David Wheater, Matthew Bates and Adam Johnson went on to have professional careers.

That domestic success was unique for a club like Middlesbrough at the time and a sign of the progress made by the club’s academy under the leadership of Dave Parnaby.

This season’s run in Europe – coupled with last season’s Premier League Under-18s success – has highlighted once more how effective the work being done by Parnaby, the coaches under him and the excellent recruitment which lead youth scouts Ron Bone and Martin Carter have carried out for more than a decade.

Defender Dael Fry, who has played twice for the first team in the Championship this season and shown a maturity belying his 18 years, has led by example from the back, while the extremely gifted and creative Harry Chapman has more assists (8) than any other player in the competition to go with his three goals.

Callum Cooke, Junior Mondal, Alex Pattison, Hayden Coulson are among the others to have impressed, but in truth the whole team have made a mark on the competition.

It remains to be seen which ones – and how many – will go on to enjoy long term careers in the game, but for now let’s hope they keep conquering Europe. The rest, you would think, should take care of itself.