HAVING lost Steve McClaren when he country came calling, Middlesbrough are facing up to the prospect of England standing in the way of attempts to lure Terry Venables back to the Riverside.

Venables has already been sounded out by the Boro hierarchy about succeeding McClaren and chairman Steve Gibson is expected to hold further talks with his top target this weekend.

An agreement is believed to have been reached in principle by the two parties but, with Gibson and chief executive Keith Lamb in Singapore until tomorrow for a seven-a-side competition, there is still a long way to go before anything is signed.

It has become clear Venables, who has been out of top-flight management for three years since leaving Leeds United, is excited by the thought of managing in the Premiership again, particularly at a club where he already enjoys a good relationship with the men above him.

But Venables, manager of his country when they reached the semi-finals of Euro 96, has also been attracted by the possibility of working with England again.

McClaren, due to take over the reins from Sven-Goran Eriksson after the World Cup, has held preliminary talks with the experienced head coach about an advisory role.

It would mean, should the position be accepted, Venables would effectively work for the Football Association in a position not too dissimilar to the way in which Sir Bobby Robson works alongside Steve Staunton for the Republic of Ireland.

Gibson, certainly, would have no problems with such a dual role. He has allowed McClaren to carry out his coaching duties with England for the majority of his five-year tenure on Teesside.

The issue is whether or not Venables would like to take on board such a hectic schedule, given that he also has business commitments abroad.

However, those close to him claim the 63-year-old's period as the figurehead for a leisure development complex in Spain could well be coming to a close sooner rather than later and that would open up more free time.

But, as manager of Middlesbrough, England duties could become something of a distraction, something Venables is keen to avoid. That is why Middlesbrough are refusing to confirm anything until there is something more concrete to reveal.

"We will be beginning the search for a new manager at the weekend, not unveiling one," said chief executive Lamb. "We are ruling nothing in and nothing out at the moment.

"It's completely unrealistic to think we will have anyone in place by the weekend. Steve and I only arrive home on Friday and as you would expect, we will be heavily involved in the recruitment of a new manager.

"Steve McClaren only left us on Monday. We want to get someone in place sooner rather than later because there's a lot of work to be done in pre-season. But nothing has been decided yet."

The squad are due to return to training on July 7 but Gibson and Lamb hope to have named McClaren's successor well before the start of the World Cup on June 9.

Former Celtic boss Martin O'Neill and ex-Charlton manager Alan Curbishley have been sounded out about the job but Venables has emerged as the front-runner.

He is the most willing to work within Gibson's ideas for the current coaching staff and incorporate Colin Cooper and Gareth Southgate into the backroom staff.

The former Australia coach, who had Mark Viduka and Mark Schwarzer under his wing during his days with the Socceroos, decided against accepting a role offered to him by Gibson in 2001.

Instead Venables, after successfully masterminding a fight against relegation during Bryan Robson's final days in charge, opted to see out his contractual obligations as a pundit for ITV.

Meanwhile, Boro have announced they will play Glasgow Rangers and Dutch side Feyenoord as part of their pre-season friendly fixtures.

The UEFA Cup finalists will face Rangers at Ibrox on July 22 (3pm), before travelling to Holland to take on Feyenoord in Rotterdam on August 6 (2.30pm).

Boro have also confirmed that representative sides will play friendly games at Darlington on Saturday, July 22 (3pm), Barnsley on July 25 (7.30pm) and Doncaster on July 28 (7.45pm), with the first team visiting Sheffield Wednesday on July 29 (3pm).

It is also planned that another friendly fixture will take place on August 12, seven days before the new Premiership season.

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