Steve McClaren claims a lack of depth in playing squad cost him England job

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It was England's failure to qualify for this summer's European Championships that ultimately forced the FA to act, but McClaren believes this was due to a lack of cover for his injured first-choice players.

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And the former Middlesbrough manager believes the dearth of English talent has now reached unacceptable levels. Speaking in the United States, McClaren said: "10-15 years ago we could have a pool of 35, 40 players all roughly the same standard. And that has slowly dwindled down to a number which isn't acceptable.

"We look at our Premier League and the feeding grounds where English players come from and we find it's inundated with foreign players. I think the last count was 38% of English players play in the Premier League and a very small percentage are playing for the top four and in the Champions League. "The Champions League is where you have to play to get the experience for international football, but we've got too few players playing in Europe, playing in the Champions League. "When we lose those players we struggle for experience." McClaren has certainly changed his tune from the day he was appointed. In the summer of 2006 he claimed that his aim during his four-year contract was to "win a major trophy". And McClaren claims the lack of emerging talent was the reason behind his decision to recall David Beckham after excluding the former captain from his first squad.

He said of Beckham's recall: "No one really took the mantle and emerged on that right hand side from the young kids coming though. I know he was very, very disappointed, but he's professional and knows things like that happen in football. And what does he do? He gets on with it and proves people wrong." McClaren is also confident that Beckham, currently training with the Arsenal first team squad, will earn a much deserved 100th cap under new boss Fabio Capello. He said: "I believe he will get his 100th cap. And then it's up to him and the performances he puts in whether he gets any more."

The full interview and video can be seen on ESPNsoccernet.com