STEVE McCLAREN last night hailed the 'excellent European performance' that has given Middlesbrough every chance of knocking the might of AS Roma out of the UEFA Cup.

Boro managed to stop Roma from scoring a crucial away goal at the Riverside while also condemning the Italian giants to only their second defeat since mid-December.

McClaren believes his men are on the verge of recording a great shock in European football, but warned against complacency ahead of the return leg at the Stadio Olimpico next Wednesday.

"It was an excellent European performance," said McClaren. "We had 11 players pulling together, we kept a clean sheet and we scored.

"It gives us a great platform for the second leg.

"We have a good record away from home in Europe and we can go there with confidence. It's a great scalp and they have been beaten once in four months."

If there was one thing McClaren has been left to rue it is missed chances, although he did pay tribute to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's performance in a withdrawn role behind Aiyegbeni Yakubu.

"It would have been nice to have scored more and it could prove costly in the second leg," he said. "But if you said before the game 1-0 we would have took it.

"Jimmy had the most important job on the park and did it well. He used his experience to win the penalty, he broke well and we wanted him to do that. It worked perfectly."

Hasselbaink defended referee Alain Sars' decision to award the penalty that resulted in victory.

"There was no option but for me to dribble, the keeper touched me and I couldn't keep the balance," said the Dutchman. "But we controlled it for 90 minutes anyway. Everyone was so focused and determined. We really wanted it.

"We have the confidence but the tie is far from over. We have a lot of work to do.

"They are a very good side but we are in the right direction and it's far from over."

Roma coach Luciano Spalletti is confident the result can be overturned but admitted he will be still unable to call on his three main strikers.

Vicenzo Montella, Shabani Nonda and Francesco Totti will all still be missing on Wednesday.

And Spalletti said: "Probably a draw would have been the best result but we can still qualify in Rome.

"It's concerning that we have lost but we will make it difficult in the next game. It will be harder because we still won't have any forwards when we will be chasing the game."

* Basle put themselves in a strong position heading into the away leg in Strasbourg after a 2-0 victory in Switzerland.

Matias Delgado converted an eighth-minute free-kick and Zdravko Kuzmanovic swung the tie in their favour with an 89th-minute header.

Marseille have it all to do in Russia after losing 1-0 to Zenit St Petersburg.

Trailing to Andrei Arshavin's 51st-minute goal, the French side had Franck Ribery sent off for a second bookable offence in the 70th minute.

Udinese and Levski Sofia finished goalless in Italy.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.