Boateng relishing 'massive week'

As Middlesbrough FC prepare for two semi-finals in four days, against FC Steaua Bucuresti in the UEFA Cup and West Ham United FC in the FA Cup, their Dutch international midfielder George Boateng believes the outcome of the matches could have far-reaching implications for the English club.

To say this is a big week for Middlesbrough is an understatement - it's absolutely massive. It's the most important week in the careers of everyone at this club. It's not just about being in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and FA Cup, we are all playing for our futures, whether at this club or elsewhere. A lot of players, including myself, are out of contract in the summer, and the manager is being tipped for the England job so getting to both finals could have a big influence on where we all are next season. If we get to two finals then a lot of people will think Steve McClaren should take over at England. If we don't then maybe the media will get behind someone else.

The speculation surrounding the manager's future hasn't been unsettling at all, far from it. The media have been around the club all the time and it's been very good to be in the spotlight. That's what you want, and if your manager is being tipped to be the next England manager then it means you must be doing something right. As a chairman, probably the only way you want to lose your manager is to the national side. So it's flattering for us to be in the news for positive reasons, particularly after the bad time we were having a few months ago.

With our runs in the UEFA Cup and FA Cup, we've had a lot of matches recently, but nobody's feeling tired. The manager has rested a few players so that when people come in they've got enough legs to help everyone out. When you're winning you don't feel as tired as when you're losing. We're all happy because of the situation we're in, and we want to be involved.

After what we've experienced in the past few months, I think the first leg against Steaua is more important than the second. In our quarter-final against FC Basel 1893 we lost 2-0 away, which made it very hard to come home and win the game 4-1. I don't think we would have enough luck to manage that again. It was so different in the previous round when we won 2-1 at VfB Stuttgart in the first leg. Suddenly we were almost through.

I know a little bit about Steaua. They played the Dutch team SC Heerenveen, and I've spoken to a few people to find out what they thought. I'm told they're not like AS Roma, who were good in possession and could dictate the play - they're a strong defensive team and very good on the counterattack. But however they play, we know the Riverside stadium is becoming a very difficult place for teams to visit, especially in cup games because it's full of passion.

If we get a result in Romania, we'll be confident of finishing the job at home. Our incredible victory against Basel has given us the belief that this could be our season. You need a bit of luck to win any competition, and the way that tie went for us has made us believe we can go all the way. It's all in our hands, and only we can throw it away.