MIDDLESBROUGH target Sean Davis was last night urged to further his England chances by opting for a move to the Riverside instead of Goodison Park.

Davis, who will be missing from the Fulham squad to face Boro this afternoon in the Premiership opener with a knee injury, has seen bids from both Everton and the Teessiders accepted this week.

And sources on Merseyside believe the 23-year-old is keen to join David Moyes's Toffees and team up with Everton's teenage sensation Wayne Rooney.

However, Boro boss Steve McClaren remains hopeful that he can persuade Davis to uproot to the North-East and enjoy working at the club's multi-million pound Rockliffe Park HQ.

"I am pretty open-minded about it but I would like Sean to come up so we could show him the facilities," said McClaren, who is also still in negotiations with Spanish star Gaizka Mendieta.

"I think we can make Sean a better player and we will help him become a full international player.

"I can only talk about the benefits of joining Middlesbrough Football Club and try to attract players by telling them of the benefits of playing here.

"Sean Davis has played international football at every level and I know he wants to improve and wants to go on.

"He is capable of playing for England and we believe coming to Middlesbrough would benefit him more."

McClaren had hoped to sign two new middle men before today's trip to Loftus Road, but after failing he is now determined to add fresh blood before the closure of the transfer window on August 31.

Davis and Mendieta are the latest in a long line of targets McClaren has focused on during the summer.

Brett Emerton, Geremi, David Dunn, Trevor Sinclair and Flavio Conceicao are the biggest names to have moved elsewhere.

And, although frustrated, McClaren insists all clubs hit problems when they go in search of new players - including champions Manchester United.

"I think we have been bold and ambitious to go for the type of players we have done," he said. "We have gone way down the line with some of these players and we have just missed out because of certain things - like Conceicao going to Dortmund because of the attraction of Champions League football.

"That is a huge attraction for the player. Only Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea can compete with that at the minute.

"But even Manchester United showed they can miss out when Ronaldinho went to Barcelona."

Failure to strengthen the Boro playing staff has led to many criticising the town's industrial vista.

But McClaren claims the current playing staff love the area, he said: "If you look at Juninho, who has won the World Cup, he has come back to Middlesbrough for a third time, so it's rubbish how people can say it's a bad area.

"If it was that bad a place I think he could have found that out the first time. It's rubbish.

"Ask any of our players, even Nemeth, who is happy with the sunshine at the minute! They love it here - the facilities, the training ground.

"We have had some of the best players in the world here and they have been astounded with the facilities."

Towards the back end of last season, McClaren insisted the 2003-04 campaign would be the 'biggest' of his tenure, as he tries to secure at least a UEFA Cup place.

But the former England coach, who is continually tipped to become Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor, knows new players are vital European qualification is going to be achieved.

And he said: "I feel we need to improve on the squad we have and that is why we are being linked with the players like Davis and Mendieta.

"I was once told 'to be a good coach, get good players; to be a great coach, get great players' and that will never change. All I am looking to do is make this club progress.

"To do that we can't do it alone and we need the players to be able to do that. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we will be in a position to do that and improve on last season's eleventh-place finish.

"In the last two years, we've built a platform financially, squad-wise and we've spent over £30m doing that. We used a shotgun approach then, but now we need to use a rifle.

"I think we can get into Europe. If we can attract the quality of players we have been in for then that will help us."

Meanwhile, McClaren will include new reserve team goalkeeper Carlo Nash on the bench in London today. Nash has signed a two-year deal at Boro after joining for a nominal fee from Manchester City. Nash replaces Mark Crossley who is likely to be in goal for the Cottagers after completing a £500,000 from Boro