STEVE McCLAREN praised his "diamond" Lee Cattermole after the teenager paid scant regard to Roma's glittering reputations and produced yet another man's performance.

The Stockton sensation played his part in an excellent all round team display that brought Italy's undisputed form horses to a shuddering halt at the Riverside.

"We've got a diamond there," said a delighted McClaren. "His performances far exceed his age. "He's 17 and he gave a performance of a player ten years older than that. He's given us competitiveness in the middle of the park alongside George."

Roma have scored in each of their last 21 league games in a run stretching back to last October, plus all six UEFA Cup games before the current Round of 32 stage.

But last night at the Riverside Boro beat the Italians at their own game, keeping a clean sheet and scoring the vital winner to set up a thrilling second leg at the Olympic Stadium next week.

"It's a great scalp," said McClaren. "They've been beaten once in four months and won 11 games out of 12.

"You saw a very, very good Roma side and you saw us give a good, disciplined performance where we controlled the game and always looked capable of scoring.

"It was an excellent European performance. We ended up with 11 players on the pitch, kept a clean sheet and scored the goal.

"It gives us a good platform to go into the second leg. We won in Stuttgart and with our away form we should be very positive and go there with confidence."

The only thing the night lacked for Boro was a second goal, with Gaizka Mendieta coming closest to putting the icing on the cake for the ecstatic Riverside faithful.

"We had opportunities but we failed to take them and that could prove costly in the second leg," admitted McClaren.

"But the performance was all important. I've been a bit disappointed with recent performances but I thought we did well against one of the top teams in Europe."

Boateng took a heavy blow during the game but McClaren expects the Dutch international to recover in time for Sunday's Premiership trip to Charlton Athletic.

"After that he made ten tackles in a row," he said. "That's George."

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