English FA Cup, quarter-final (replay): Middlesbrough v Charlton at the Riverside 8.0 Darren Bent is said by Alan Curbishley to be the butt of dressing-room jokes at Charlton, but Middlesbrough will not be poking fun at the striker at the Riverside tonight. Bent has scored three times against them this season and will be fresh for the challenge of reaching an English FA Cup semi-final after being rested on Saturday against Everton.

The 22-year-old, whose 16 goals make him the top-scoring English player in the Premiership, is entering a critical period, needing to end the season fit and in good form to try to earn a place in the World Cup squad.

Charlton are highly reliant on him for goals and his partial drought has coincided with the team scoring in only two of their last nine matches.

Bent's enthusiasm has not waned, though, and Curbishley claims he has to "push him back in the building" after training.

"From the first day he came in it was like a breath of fresh air," the manager said.

"You had someone who came in here ready to win the running, wanting to be in the team photo, who couldn't wait for the season to start. It wasn't just another old season.

"We sensed that early and after working with him for a little while we realised what a great finisher he is.

"If you look at the goals they are not all in the same group. They are right foot, left foot, headers. What we've tried to do is work on the other side of him to make him a better player in some of the things he needs to do as a centre-forward for the rest of the team.

"I don't think we've had it since (Clive) Mendonca but we do feel if a chance arises and pops down to him he's going to finish it. When he had the Uruguay game (with England) I was so disappointed one didn't just pop down to him because I'm sure he would have finished it."

Six of Charlton's past nine matches have ended goalless, including the initial tie against Middlesbrough, but Curbishley offers no apology for having made his team harder to beat after a miserable mid-season run as he returns to a stadium where he enjoyed a 3-0 win in August, with Bent scoring.

"We were regularly getting beaten by three goals and that was not entertaining me and I needed to do something about it. I'm sure my chairman wouldn't have thanked me if I was embroiled in a relegation battle at the moment. It's not that we've said 'Let's go out and keep clean sheets and hope we get draws.' We've never done that.

"If you look at the amount of games we have drawn then it's about average, but they've just all come at the same time," Curbishley added.

After their historic comeback against Basle last Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the Uefa Cup, Middlesbrough now have another opportunity to clinch a place in the last four of the FA Cup.

Not even Sunday's derby defeat to Newcastle has managed to deflate the focus of McClaren and his players as they look to lift two pieces of silverware to ensure the season is one to be remembered.

Remarkably, the game will be Middlesbrough's 22nd cup tie of the season, yet manager Steve McClaren believes they can continue their march on two fronts, with a return to Europe their goal. "Twenty-second cup tie! Remarkable!" said a disbelieving McClaren. "But it's one of our biggest because the FA Cup provides us with two games to get back into Europe, and that's the target.

"We're still on course to do that. We've still two difficult games if we are going to achieve it, but we've momentum, confidence and belief, and we have to take that into the game.

"The players know what's at stake, so you have to trust them. It's down to them now. It's in the palm of their hands."

The winners face West Ham in one semi-final, with the big guns of Chelsea and Liverpool paired in the other.

With both those sides virtually guaranteed Champions League football next season, it means that if Middlesbrough, Charlton or West Ham end up losing finalists, they will be in the Uefa Cup.

Boro will also play a third straight season in the competition if they win the Uefa Cup, providing the Football Association nominate them to defend the trophy, as would certainly be the case.