McClaren Crosses His Fingers and Prays

The players will run and the coaching staff will pace the dugout here but England are at a standstill all the same. Tonight's friendly with Austria cannot truly dominate Steve McClaren's mind. His life is hedged by events that are about to happen elsewhere. The vigil continues in the run-up to the matches that Russia and Croatia play tomorrow, but the air is also full of conversations that will be given voice if England fail to reach Euro 2008.

McClaren himself referred to a "nice little chat" he had recently with the FA chief executive, Brian Barwick, about routine topics. The manager reported that his future had not been under review. "I believe I'll survive," he said. None the less, he seems to sense that the tempo of events is quickening. Asked about the situation should England's interest, in effect, be ended tomorrow by a Russia win in Israel and a draw for Croatia in Macedonia, he said: "We'll find out on Saturday night and I'm sure you'll get a statement, a response, if that happens."

That might really be a breach of protocol by the FA since Russia would still have to complete the formality of beating Andorra next Wednesday, but the yearning on the part of McClaren and his employers to settle matters is almost overwhelming. The manager will retreat to the reassurance of his own living room and watch the other group matches with the company of his sons in Yarm tomorrow.

He draws strength from the recollection that he was at risk of being dismissed by Middlesbrough in 2006, not long before he was appointed England manager. "I've come through adversity in the past and I believe I will again," he said. There is little else to be done but restate his conviction that Russia will not win in Tel Aviv, meaning that England can qualify for Euro 2008 by defeating Croatia at Wembley.

In the meantime there is an air of re-establishment to tonight's team selection. Frank Lampard, at the expense of Gareth Barry, reclaims the central midfied spot beside Steven Gerrard. David Beckham, who has not been capped since the friendly with Germany in August, is over his knee injury and starts on the right. The major innovation lies in a debut for Scott Carson.

McClaren, having watched him in the England Under-21s, had promised him a cap whenever circumstances allowed, This, all the same, is no token honor for the Aston Villa goalkeeper. The manager, who has so often championed Paul Robinson, flatly declined to guarantee that the accident-prone Tottenham player would be between the posts against Croatia. Robinson's errors, culminating in a mistake for Russia's winner in Moscow, have done significant harm. Outfield players are blameworthy, too, but there is a starkness to a goalkeeper's existence.

Other players, including Ashley Cole, Ashley Young and David Bentley, will feature as substitutes this evening. It is wintry in Vienna but the team will hope that the game can distract them from the blizzard of doubt over the Euro 2008 campaign.

The derided opponents may have to be treated seriously. This match might not count for much but it is typical of England's luck that Austria should be exhibiting faint signs of life just as they arrive. A 3-2 victory over Ivory Coast in Innsbruck last month was Austria's first win in 10 matches. No one will want to brood on the fact that the score was 1-1 until the visitors' defender, Steve Gohouri, was sent off.

Josef Hickersberger's side have the humble ambition of escaping the infamy of being renowned as the most inadequate team ever to host a major tournament, when Euro 2008 comes to Austria and Switzerland. There is an incongruity about Hickersberger, who has been through such a gloomy period, now popping up to wish McClaren luck. When a person in the Austria coach's position feels sorry for you it confirms that you are in terrible, and conceivably terminal, trouble.

The most comfort the England manager can hope for this evening would come in a respectable showing that put him in a good mood before he subjects himself to torment by television tomorrow.