STEVE McClaren has spent most of this season pleading for a glamour game against one of the European elite and, yesterday, the Middlesbrough manager's demands were finally met.

Boro will play three-time German champions and former UEFA Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup runners-up Stuttgart in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup.

The winners of that tie are then scheduled to meet AS Roma in the last 16, provided the Italian giants can see off the challenge of Belgian side Club Brugges.

The Teessiders will travel to Stuttgart's imposing 55,000-capacity Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium - a ground that will host six World Cup games, including the third place play-off, next summer - on either February 15 or 16. The return game will take place at the Riverside a week later.

While Middlesbrough maintained their unbeaten record in this season's competition with a 2-0 win over Litex Lovech on Thursday night, topping Group D has proved to be something of a pyrrhic victory.

Currently seventh in the Bundesliga, Stuttgart represent a far more formidable threat than most of the sides Boro could have met had they finished second in their section. The Germans are certainly more capable than the likes of Skoda Xanthi, Grasshoppers or Dnipro, who the Teessiders have brushed aside to reach this stage.

"It's a great draw for us," said McClaren, who will turn his attention back to domestic affairs tomorrow when Boro entertain Tottenham. "They are a big club with a massive stadium and I think the fans will be coming in their droves for both legs.

"I said I wanted tough opponents and that is what we have got, but it suits us just fine. We are confident in Europe now after 18 months in European competition and this is just the kind of tie which will get the fans right behind our run.

Stuttgart, who saw last season's UEFA Cup run ended by Parma at the same stage of the competition, boast five players with Premiership experience.

Managed by the vastly-experienced former Italy boss Giovanni Trapattoni, the Germans are able to call upon the services of Markus Babbel (Liverpool), Thomas Hitzlsperger (Aston Villa), Jesper Gronkjaer (Chelsea), Boris Zivkovic (Portsmouth) and Jon-Dahl Tomasson (Newcastle).

Tomasson's return to the North-East will be especially intriguing. The Denmark international was an unmitigated disaster at Newcastle, scoring just four goals in 34 games during a tortuous 12 months on Tyneside. Since then, though, he has re-established his reputation with successful spells at Feyeenord and AC Milan.

"Any draw against a Bundesliga team is going to be difficult," added Boro chief executive Keith Lamb. "But we have nothing to fear.

"We have already played six games without conceding a goal and I am sure the players will look forward to it. They should be two fabulous games.

"Having played a couple of away games where tickets have been in short supply, we should not have that problem with Stuttgart.

"I'm sure our fans will be excited at the prospect of two very big games. In the meantime, though, we have to forget about the UEFA Cup and concentrate on the many important games we have over the Christmas and New Year period."

Looking ahead to tomorrow's visit of Spurs to the Riverside, McClaren, meanwhile, has tipped Adam Johnson to follow fellow wing wizard Stewart Downing to the very top of the English game.

Johnson made his third start of the season in Thursday night's win over Litex Lovech to qualify for the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup as winners of Group D.

The 18-year-old is expected to return to the substitutes' bench tomorrow but, while McClaren will continue to limit his exposure, the Boro boss is delighted with his latest teenage tyro's development.

As an orthodox left-winger, Johnson shares many of the characteristics that have earned Downing a first international cap and, with his team-mate continuing to recover from knee surgery, more opportunities are likely to come his way during the packed Christmas programme.

"You saw (on Thursday) that he's a waif of a lad," said McClaren, who is looking for his side to bounce back from consecutive league defeats at Chelsea and Liverpool. "We need to nurture him properly and that's exactly what we're doing.

"But, in terms of the game against Tottenham, he's got a chance. He played against Arsenal earlier in the season and we kept him in the side for the next game as well.

"We thought that was a little bit too early though and, as you saw against Litex, he's made progress since then.

"I've seen lots of young players who look like they're going to make it and it's interesting to see how things sometimes turn out.

"Sometimes, players have a taste of the first team, drop out and you never see them again. That's the one thing we don't want to happen with Adam or any of the youngsters here at Middlesbrough. We keep bringing them in and then taking them out. It toughens them up and makes sure that their attitude is right."

Johnson's senior experience might be limited but the youngster is already attracting envious glances from a host of English clubs.

Tomorrow's opponents, Tottenham, are understood to view the teenager as a possible alternative to Downing if their anticipated January raid fails to persuade Boro to sell, while a number of leading Championship sides are hoping to engineer a loan deal for the youngster at the start of next month.

Downing's career changed dramatically after he excelled in a successful loan spell at Sunderland but, while McClaren acknowledges the value of such a move, Boro's heavy schedule means Johnson is likely to get more of an opening at the Riverside.

"He's progressed very well in the reserves and trains every day with the first team," said the Middlesbrough boss. "Thursday was an opportunity for him to show how far he's come and I thought he showed flashes of the player he's going to be in the future.

"We have considered loaning him out in the past and it's something we still might do in the future. That is an option we know we have.

"His situation is different to the one Stewart was in though. Stewart wasn't getting a game here and, at the moment, there are opportunities for Adam to be involved.

"He might be on the bench or he might be playing, as he did against Litex. Either way, he's getting more opportunities than Stewart was at the same age."

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