Boateng believes in record beaters

Ahead of Middlesbrough FC's visit to FC Basel 1893 in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, Netherlands midfielder George Boateng shares his thoughts with uefa.com.

Our 4-3 Premiership victory against Bolton Wanderers FC at the weekend was the worst possible preparation for playing Basel. It was physically a very hard game. Bolton played lots of long balls, they were very physical and are a team full of big, tall guys. We knew we'd been in a contest afterwards, that's for sure. But Stuart Parnaby's last-minute winner was so pleasing that everyone forgot about the defensive errors we made and it gave everyone a huge lift.

Strength in depth
The manager rested a few players so they would be available for the UEFA Cup, and that's probably the key to the success we're enjoying now. We've got a few players he can rotate so there are always people with fresh legs to come in and give us a boost. When you play so many matches, you need players who aren't tired and who have 90 minutes in their legs, and that's what we've got. The manager has said that, regardless of the team he picks, he always sends out a side he believes is capable of winning the game, and we believe that. For the last three months that's certainly been the case, so we can't complain about being rotated.

Suspension incurred
I won't be playing in the first leg against Basel, because I'm suspended after picking up another yellow card in the last match against AS Roma. I'm back in the Netherlands for a couple of days recuperating, and it's very welcome, because since I've come back from injury I haven't had a rest. Lee Cattermole is also out, but that gives Ray Parlour and Doriva the chance to show what they can do.

Swiss test
I think Basel will be a similar team to Grasshopper-Club, who we played in the first round of this competition. They're in the same league, so we expect them to play in a similar style, but they started the season in the UEFA Champions League and are leading the Swiss table, so we expect them to be even stronger.

Home form
Apparently, they haven't lost at home for two years, but we don't mind that. We pay no attention to such records - in fact we look forward to breaking them. Chelsea FC had only lost one game all season in the Premiership when we played them, but we beat them 3-0. Roma hadn't lost for something like 15 matches when we beat them in the UEFA Cup last 16.

Damage limitation
No one predicted we would come this far in the tournament, and we enjoy proving people wrong. It's the best team on the day that wins. What we have to do is make sure we are still in with a chance when we get them back to the Riverside next week. If things don't go our way, we must keep the damage to a minimum. We must play with intelligence.

European acknowledgement
The fact we beat Roma in the last round has made people sit up and take notice of Middlesbrough. Maybe a few people across Europe have a bit more respect for us now. They view us as a good team who can go on to win the competition, and that's certainly something we believe ourselves.

George Boateng's personal website is at www.icons.com.