Uefa Cup Semi-final, first leg, Steaua v Middlesbrough Bucharest, 6.45Maybe it was because Winston Churchill's original 'iron curtain' is no longer with us, torn down and trampled into the dust in cities such as this, or more likely it was for other reasons, but Steve McClaren landed in Bucharest with his own shield yesterday.

He may have travelled thousands of miles away from Soho Square and Middlesbrough may be on the verge of their first European semi-final, but there was no dodging those England manager questions.

At the first sound of them, McClaren, never too expansive, closed down. "I'm not going to talk about England," he said, "It's a Middlesbrough press conference. I'll let others do the talking and speculating about England."

It was a fair point. A man who seems to be growing in confidence with each week chose instead to stress the magnitude of Boro's recent journey and was as close to Churchillian as he gets.

"You don't get many opportunities to get into European finals," McClaren said. "Steaua are guaranteed European football every year, but for Middlesbrough this is our second taste of it in 130 years. To even think of a European final two or three years ago was impossible. Now it's believable, it's achievable."

However, not only will the 1986 European Cup winners have to be overcome, Boro will have to deal with the absence of key players. Given his form of late, Mark Viduka's failure to take his seat on the flight to Bucharest because of a thigh injury was most worrying. Gareth Southgate was on board but, having turned an ankle against Charlton, the Boro captain is unavailable.

In Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Boro have striking cover but, with Chris Riggott suspended and Emanuel Pogatetz out for the season, Boro's central defence is looking vulnerable.

Where Boro are tonight is the Lia Manoliu stadium. It is dilapidated but, with a reported 45,000 sell-out, it should be imposing.

Steaua are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their European Cup triumph over Terry Venables' Barcelona, but they are a much-reduced force. But they are the Romanian champions and are likely to recapture that title. Moreover, their Uefa Cup progress has been impressive, topping their group unbeaten.