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STUTTGART v BORO TEAM NEWS
Steve McClaren is looking to extend Boro's unbeaten run in Europe this season but he will have to do it without Australian international Mark Viduka who has not travelled to Germany due to an unspecified illness.
Both Gaizka Mendieta and Lee Cattermole will not feature due to picking up hamstring injuries in recent weeks. Indeed both players are doubtful for this weekend's FA Cup tie against Preston. Ugo Ehiogu meanwhile has gone one better and torn his hamstring, an injury that he picked up in Boro's 1-1 draw at Coventry on January 28. He, like the other two, is doubtful for the Preston tie on Sunday.
Long term knee injuries to both Ray Parlour and Frank Queudrue also show little sign of clearing up and thus both players are still missing from the squad. Massimo Maccarone may also be absent due to his picking up a broken nose, whilst James Morrison is expected to go and see a knee specialist in the very near future and thus misses the trip to Germany.
The Boro are boosted however by the return of Tony McMahon to the squad, having recovered from the dislocated shoulder he picked up during pre-season. Furthermore Saturday's goal hero Fabio Rochemback has been given the green light by UEFA to play in Europe for Middlesbrough and he could feature in the starting line-up this evening.
19-year old Gary Liddle has also been called up to the senior squad for the first time in his career as extra cover.
Stuttgart have a similar number of injury problems to the Boro. The main doubt however, former Aston Villa midfielder Thomas Hitzelberger, has returned to full training (on Monday 13 February) having missed the 0-0 home draw against Werder Bremen as well as the 1-0 away defeat at Arminia Bielefeld.
Marcel Schuon (undisclosed), Andreas Hinkel (leg) and Daniel Bierofka (shin) are all still doubts for the German side although the latter was expected to make a full recovery by mid-February. Indeed he is recovering 'slowly but surely' and so could possibly feature at the Riverside next week. Hinkel meanwhile is almost certain to be out for the first leg but VfB coach Armin Veh expects him to return for this weekend's encounter against Mainz. If he comes through this, expect to see him play against Middlesbrough a week tonight.
Meanwhile both Ludovic Magnin and Timo Hildebrand are suffering from minor injuries which could threaten their participation in tonight's tie. Magnin came back to training on Tuesday (14 February) after surgery on his nose whilst Hildebrand sustained an eye injury after being hit by a ball from close range. Both expect to play but could be lacking in match fitness.
Middlesbrough squad: Schwarzer, Jones, Parnaby, Davies, McMahon, Riggott, Southgate, Taylor, Pogatetz, Bates, Boateng, Doriva, Rochemback, Downing, Kennedy, Johnson, Hasselbaink, Yakubu, Liddle
Stuttgart squad: Hildebrand, Heinen, Meira, Stranzl, Delpierre, Magnin, Babbel, Meißner, Gerber, Soldo, Tiffert, Bierofka, Gentner, Hitzlsperger, Grønkjær, Carevic, Cacu, Gomez, Tomasson, Ljuboja
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