McClaren Optimistic Despite Cole Woe

Ashley Cole has joined John Terry on the doubtful list for England's Euro 2008 qualifier in Moscow on Wednesday after damaging ankle ligaments. 'It doesn't look good,' head coach Steve McClaren admitted, although he said it was too early to assess the full extent of the injury.

Cole was given a scan at Wembley after trapping his ankle early in the second half and was then sent to hospital, so England and Chelsea might be expecting the worst. Certainly McClaren seemed optimistic in suggesting there was a chance the injury might clear up over the next couple of days. He said the same thing about Terry's chances of recovering from the knee problem that kept him out of the Estonia game, but there is a strong chance England will be without two of their regular back four in Moscow.

At least they are relatively well covered in the defensive department. Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand was kept off after half time to prevent any chance of him picking up the yellow card that would have triggered a suspension and Everton duo Joleon Lescott and Phil Neville operated as emergency full-backs after Cole's departure, with Micah Richards switching to centre-half.

McClaren accepted that the second half, in particular, had been disappointingly flat, but claimed that was inevitable once England had won the game inside half an hour. 'We just needed to win and as soon as we made sure we would, we were bound to start thinking of Wednesday,' he said. 'It wasn't the second-half performance we wanted, but I can't criticize it. I've seen Russia and Croatia coast through second halves too.

'Once we scored the goals, we were able to relax a bit and start looking at one or two things for Wednesday.'

Michael Owen was taken off with 20 minutes remaining, although - with England three up and the striker still coming back from surgery - it was surprising he stayed on for so long. Sam Allardyce, the Newcastle manager, might have been surprised, anyway. But McClaren defended the decision. 'Michael will be better for getting 70 minutes under his belt,' he explained. 'It's only two weeks since he had his operation.'

England are now second, to Croatia, in Group E and are unlikely to be caught by Russia unless they are beaten in Moscow. A draw would probably be enough for McClaren's men, although England would still need to win their final home game against Croatia.

That task would be made easier were Croatia to arrive at Wembley having already qualified, as seems certain to be the case after their victory against Israel last night - though the most inviting route now open to England is to win in Moscow and qualify with a game to spare.

So will McClaren be sending out a team to win on Wednesday and put the matter to rest early? 'Of course we'll be trying to win,' he said. 'Why not? We've won our last five qualifying games 3-0. There's a hell of a lot of confidence in that dressing room at the moment and this is a great opportunity.'

Viggo Jensen, McClaren's opposite number, thinks so too. After dismissing his own team's efforts with commendable brevity - 'There's not much to say about that' - he said he thought England and Croatia would qualify. 'Originally, I thought Russia, but now England are stronger,' Estonia's Danish manager said.

'What they must not do is worry too much about the Astroturf. It's the kind of thing that can play on your mind in advance of a game. I think if England were going out to play on grass, they would now be quite confident, their results have been good. If they can put the pitch out of their mind, they should be fine.'

Joe Cole slammed the England fans for booing Frank Lampard when he came on as a second-half substitute and said he is mystified as to why Lampard is receiving such treatment. 'Frank has been one of England's most consistent players over the years. He has never let England down and I don't understand it.'