However, it is the three cup competitions in which they are still involved which represent their best chance of glory this season.

Boro, who have already qualified for the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup, will bring their Group D campaign to a close on Thursday night with the visit of Bulgarian minnows Litex Lovech to the Riverside Stadium knowing that the top spot is firmly within their grasp.

In addition, they have been handed a home tie against Blackburn in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup, the trophy they lifted in February 2004, and face non-league opposition in the shape of either Nuneaton of Histon in the FA Cup third round next month.

That has all contributed towards a cluttered schedule which will see the club play eight games in four different competitions inside 23 days, although McClaren is not complaining.

“I’ve just had a week off without a game in midweek and I didn’t know what to do with myself for three days,” he said.

“These games certainly beat shopping, I can tell you that.

“It’s an exciting time for us. This football club, at the beginning of the season, set a target of getting into Europe or winning a cup competition, and we wanted to do well in Europe, we really focused on that.

“We have done well, we have qualified for the next stage. We really wanted to take the Carling Cup seriously – we have done this season, we are through to the quarter-finals.

“The league is very important to us as well, and the FA Cup coming up, we have got a decent draw in that, so all four competitions, we are going very strongly on, and it’s difficult focussing and re-focussing on different games.

“We are really just trying to take one game at a time and prioritise and say: ’That’s the priority this week,’ and then the next game, that’s the priority.

“It’s very difficult, but I’d rather be in this position than anybody else’s and having a free week because being involved in the cups and being involved in Europe is fantastic for this football club, and the players are coping with it tremendously well, as are the staff.”

Boro have endured a frustrating start to the season with the euphoria of victories over Arsenal and Manchester United giving way to desperate disappointment as a result of defeats at the hands of the likes of Charlton, Sunderland and West Ham.

Injuries have not helped, England winger Stewart Downing is hoping for a return from knee surgery over the Christmas period, while Gaizka Mendieta’s return from a similar problem has been interrupted by a calf strain.

However, the fact that they are competing for all four prizes helped the manager top a recent website poll of almost 1,500 fans who were asked to name the club’s best ever boss.

McClaren attracted 48.3% of the votes, with Jack Charlton his closest competitor at 21.1% and Bryan Robson, perhaps surprisingly, fourth behind Bruce Rioch.

“That’s flattering,” he said. “I came here to do a job and to try to bring them success, try to win a trophy and get them into Europe, and we have done that.

“Everybody has worked very, very hard to do that, and it’s flattering to be praised by the fans for it. “