ROVERS new boy Craig Hignett is up for the fight this season -- but thankfully not in the way which marred Middlesbrough's FA Cup final appearance against Chelsea in 1997.

In our pre-season special Rovers Kick-Off 2000 which is on sale today, Hignett lifts the lid on the remarkable scenes on the morning of the final when Middlesbrough players were fighting with each other following outspoken comments from Italian star Fabrizio Ravanelli.

"In the hotel before the game the lads were rolling around the floor kicking lumps out of each other.

"During the week leading up to the game, players like Ravanelli and Emerson had been in the papers saying they were leaving because they would never play for a first division club. That jacked a lot of the lads off and they only needed to say one wrong word on the day and everyone was up for a ruck. It was surreal. The day of an FA Cup final and team-mates were rolling round the hotel lawn in their suits.

"If you look closely at the TV pictures, you will spot some of the lads with grass stains or rips in their jackets.

"We even had to get the TV cameras off our coach on the way to Wembley because players were fighting at the back."