Safe hands? Mac puts faith in Robinson

The England coach was expected to axe Robinson after the Tottenham goalkeeper followed the mistakes he committed against Croatia last season with an embarrassing clanger against Germany last month. But McClaren has resisted the temptation to turn to either David James or Scott Carson, hoping instead that Robinson can show the strength of character to emerge from his recent crisis of confidence.

McClaren said Robinson was 'relieved and delighted' when he broke the news to him late on Thursday night, and yesterday he said: "I more or less made up my mind two or three days after the Germany game, once I'd looked at the game and reflected on it without all the hysteria.

"I always had it in mind to stick with him, but it also depended on his reaction and the reaction of the other goalkeepers.

"I've been delighted with all of them, but Paul Robinson gets the nod for me. Ultimately, everybody makes mistakes.

"A goalkeeper makes one and it is in the back of the net. Other players against Germany made mistakes, and do we give them the same punishment? No. I have every confidence in Robbo and I trust him to do the job."

McClaren refused to reveal the identity of Michael Owen's strike partner but after recalling Heskey to the squad for the first time since March 2005, Sportsmail understands that the coach has decided to select the Wigan player ahead of Everton's Andy Johnson.

Steven Gerrard will also start, and McClaren confirmed that he may not even need a pain-killing injection on his broken toe.

"Stevie G trained without an injection," he said. "And if he plays tomorrow like he played in training this morning, I will be delighted. It looks like he will play without an injection, but we will assess that tomorrow. He has trained for two days without one."

Owen Hargreaves remains more of a concern, having been unable to train all week because of a thigh injury. Aston Villa's Gareth Barry is on standby.