WHEN the Football Association meet to rubber-stamp Steve McClaren's appointment as England manager later this afternoon, they will hardly give last night's game at the Reebok Stadium a passing thought.

Perhaps it is just as well. A dour 1-1 draw against a Bolton side led by one of his international rivals, Sam Allardyce, is hardly the most inspiring of calling cards with which to woo the appointees of Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor.

In the end, though, it will not matter one jot. Both McClaren and the FA have other things on their mind.

In McClaren's case, the chief consideration is next week's UEFA Cup final in Eindhoven and, from that perspective, the major positive to have emerged from last night's game was the lack of any injury to affect his side's chances.

For the FA, the Middlesbrough manager's successful youth system is of more interest than a meaningless end-of-season encounter. To that end, the sight of 18-year-old Adam Johnson scoring his first senior goal as part of a Boro side that included four teenagers can only have strengthened McClaren's hand.

And, while Ricardo Vaz Te's equaliser was enough to earn Bolton a point, the night's other big winners were Newcastle. With the Wanderers failing to move ahead of them in the table, Glenn Roeder's side now know that a win against Chelsea on Sunday will be enough to earn them a place in next season's Intertoto Cup.

Europe is also on the minds of Middlesbrough but, with full-back Franck Queudrue the only member of the starting line-up likely to kick off next week's UEFA Cup showdown, last night's game revealed little to the onlooking scouts from Seville.

McClaren's team selection will not have gone unnoticed, though, with Ross Turnbull's senior Middlesbrough debut suggesting first-choice goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer is unlikely to make next week's European showpiece.

Schwarzer fractured his cheekbone in last month's FA Cup semi-final defeat to West Ham and, while there had been suggestions he could sport a protective mask in six days time, even that now looks extremely unlikely.

By handing Newton Aycliffe-born Turnbull his first Boro start last night, McClaren was effectively admitting defeat in his race to rehabilitate his senior stopper.

Brad Jones now seems certain to start in the Phillips Stadion, with Turnbull warming the bench. On the evidence of last night's display, the latter will be an able deputy.

After spending most of this season on loan at Championship strugglers Crewe, the 21-year-old must be used to playing behind a porous defence. But even that cannot have prepared him for what lay in wait during the opening five minutes of his Premiership debut.

Just 90 seconds had elapsed when David Wheater's missed tackle allowed Jay-Jay Okocha to send Vaz Te galloping through on goal. In the flash of an eye, Turnbull was upon him to fling out a strong left hand and save his shot.

Three minutes later Kevin Nolan found enough space to meet Kevin Davies' low cross. His front-post flick went through the legs of Ugo Ehiogu but Turnbull's reactions were sharp enough to block the ball on the goalline.

Bolton went on to dictate the rest of the game with the rangy Vaz Te repeatedly teasing Tony McMahon and the industrious Nolan producing glimpses of the form that has made him an outsider for Sven-Goran Eriksson's World Cup squad.

Yet while Turnbull was called upon again in the 26th minute to save Okocha's tame shot, the home side gradually settled into a torpor that matched the occasion's low-key feel.

Marshalled by the tireless Lee Cattermole, Boro often looked the most threatening on the counter-attack. Unfortunately, their finishing did not match the brightness of their occasional breaks.

Aiyegbeni Yakubu, who has not scored from open play since the FA Cup win over Preston in mid-February, directed a weak diving header at Jussi Jaaskelainen and Johnson dragged a first-time drive wide.

But the Easington-born 18-year-old more than atoned for his error two minutes after the interval.

Trapping David Wheater's long ball in an instant, Johnson cut in from the left flank, jinked inside a flummoxed Nicky Hunt and bent a composed right-foot finish into the far bottom corner of the net.

Sadly, for the visitors, it did not keep them in the lead for long. Barely four minutes after Johnson's opener, Okocha crossed from the right and Vaz Te stole in front of McMahon to direct a powerful diving header past the helpless Turnbull.

The remainder of the second half quickly slipped into the same soporific pattern as the first, although Ehiogu should have re-established Boro's lead 18 minutes from time.

Jaaskelainen spilled Queudrue's 22-yard free-kick but, while Ehiogu reacted to the loose ball quickest, he contrived to stab the rebound wide from no more than four yards.

At the other end, Ivan Campo clipped the top of the crossbar with a back-post header from Stelios' corner but, despite a raft of late changes, the home side were unable to fashion an undeserved winner