DESPITE an ever-increasing unavailable list, manager Steve McClaren has light-heartedly moved to reassure fans that Middlesbrough will not be following the lead set by the class of 1996.

The unfortunate Malcolm Christie, only recently back in the fold after breaking his leg on two separate occasions, has become the eighth first team player to be ruled out of Boro's trip to Bolton this evening.

Midfielders Stewart Downing and James Morrison are also doubtful after returning from international duty with niggles but it is the news that Christie will miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture of the foot that has added to McClaren's woes.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Chris Riggott and Szilard Nemeth may have returned to the squad but Ray Parlour, Bolo Zenden (both suspended) and Christie are all missing after last weekend's match with Blackburn.

The selection problems facing McClaren evoke memories of the problems that faced Middlesbrough in December 1996 when Bryan Robson had a game postponed after having 21 players were ruled out through injury or illness.

The Riverside outfit were deducted three points by the Premier League for failing to play at Blackburn and that cost the club its top-flight status later that season.

And McClaren jokingly said last night: "We won't go down that road again. We feel it's just a great opportunity for the young players to come in. We had five players from the Academy playing against Blackburn last weekend and there maybe a few more on Saturday."

As well as Christie, Zenden and Parlour, Middlesbrough have suffered one problem after another for a number of months now.

Gaizka Mendieta, Colin Cooper, Ugo Ehiogu, Mark Viduka and George Boateng are all missing at the Reebok Stadium today and only Cooper from those is expected back sooner rather than later.

Since McClaren took over on Teesside in the summer of 2001 he has had to deal with a number of long-term casualties - including serious injuries to Juninho, Massimo Maccarone and Ugo Ehiogu.

But he insists the state his squad currently finds itself in is something he has never experienced before - making failure to bolster the squad in January an even bigger issue.

"It is the biggest injury crisis I have known," said McClaren. "I have never known anything like this. Most of these injuries are also unavoidable as well, that's what's the amazing thing.

"Even our physio Grant Downie, who has been around football clubs for many years including Rangers, has never known a season like it. It is difficult. We have assembled a very good team here and how often we can get that team out will determine our season. It's going to be very, very difficult to field a team on Saturday never mind pick one."

McClaren has been discussing with his coaching staff all week who to play at Bolton today, with a dearth of midfielders making it difficult to construct a team.

The likelihood will be that either Stuart Parnaby or Michael Reiziger, both full-backs, will be asked to play in the middle of midfield alongside Doriva in a game in which Middlesbrough must avoid defeat if they are to retain sixth place.

"That's why you have a squad," said McClaren, who has added FA Youth Cup winners Andrew Taylor and David Wheater to his squad.

"Unfortunately this season, we've relied on the youngsters coming in. They have done the job and they will need to do the job again.

"You don't want to put square pegs in round holes, but sometimes you have to and sometimes players have to adapt to new positions, and maybe we will have to do that."

Middlesbrough's victory over Blackburn last weekend was the Teessiders' first league success in 2005 and it is in stark contrast to Bolton's unbeaten run of seven games going into today.

Meanwhile, McClaren has told striker Christie that he can bounce back from his latest injury lay-off and become a hit in the Premiership.

Since moving to Middlesbrough in January 2003 the 25-year-old has had a series of problems.

He had his first meeting with surgeons in his first summer when he had an operation on a hernia and his wisdom teeth. He broke his left leg for the first time in November 2003 before suffering the same fate last September after making a comeback against Banik Ostrava in the UEFA Cup.

He made a goalscoring return to the Middlesbrough side at Portsmouth before suffering the stress fracture in last Saturday's win over Blackburn.

And McClaren said: "There was such disappointment to learn that his season is practically over, but he said he'll be back. To come back from two broken legs, this will be relatively easy.

"It's unbelievable, not just for the individual but for the football club. We just seem to be getting one injury after another and nothing you can do anything about, broken bones or ligament injuries.

"We are saddened and shocked by the news on Malcolm, who had made a fantastic comeback from two broken legs, got back to playing football, looked very, very good, very sharp, and then to get this which rules him out for the rest of the season is a devastating blow to Malcolm.

"But he knows he can come back to this level, he knows it's not a re-injury, it's a new injury and when he's back, he knows, next season, he'll be as sharp as anything."