BOTH Newcastle United and Middlesbrough booked their placed in the next round of the UEFA Cup on Thursday evening following comfortable wins in their respective first-round ties.

United negotiated their passage through courtesy of a 5-1 victory - 7-1 on aggregate - against Israeli minnows Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin in Tel Aviv, thanks to an Alan Shearer hat-trick and a first-half brace from Patrick Kluivert.

Boro managed to carve out a 1-1 draw in the Czech Republic against Banik Ostrava, with teenager James Morrison on the score sheet for the Teessiders, who eventually progressed 4-1 on aggregate.

Both sides now go into the hat for the inaugural group stage of the competition, with 38 other teams, for the noon draw at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

The Magpies are named as one of the top eight seeds, with the likes of Lazio, Parma, Feyenoord and Glasgow Rangers, while Boro are in the third pot.

A Tyne-Tees derby can be ruled out for the moment as teams from the same nation cannot face each other in the group stage.

United can also rule out a rematch of one the most memorable in their long history, for the time being at least, as the top seeds all head a group.

Newcastle previously met Rangers in the semi-finals of the competition when it was known as the Fairs Cup in 1969. The Geordies, who eventually lifted the trophy, progressed to the final 2-0 on aggregate after drawing a blank in Glasgow.

A Battle of Britain encounter is still on the cards, however, and Boro could meet either Rangers or Hearts, who are in the fourth group, or indeed the Edinburgh club could also face Newcastle.

There will be eight groups made up of five teams who all play four matches each, two at home and two away.

The top three from each group progress to the last 32, when the competition reverts to the traditional home and away knock-out format in February. They will be joined by the eight third-placed clubs from the UEFA Champions League group stage.

October, 21, November, 4 and 25 and December 1, 2, 15 and 16 have been allocated for the group matches, meaning Boro and United's league fixtures now face disruption The single match final is to be played in Lisbon at Sporting Club's Estdio Jos Alvalade on May 18 next year.