Worried McClaren is ready to pull England stars out of the Austria friendly

Owen Hargreaves became the latest to withdraw from the match in Vienna with a recurrence of his knee problem today, while Shaun Wright-Phillips missed training this morning with a stiff ankle.

Frank Lampard takes a tumble during training at London Colney training ground

With Wayne Rooney also out, under-fire McClaren will have to rely on more experienced players like Michael Owen, David Beckham and Steven Gerrard in what could be a crunch match with Croatia next Wednesday — and he is loathe to risk them against the Austrians.

John Terry is stepping up his comeback bid and will resume full training tomorrow following his knee problem but he will not figure against Austria, having been left out of the squad.

Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson, who is currently on loan at Aston Villa, has been told he will start and he is likely to be joined by other fringe members of the team who are unlikely to play at Wembley next week.

McClaren insisted earlier in the week that Friday's international friendly was not a redundant match.

"We need some kind of preparation for Croatia so we have a chance to look at a few things," he added. But it now looks like a game that his England side could have done without.

Hargreaves has stayed in Manchester for treatment but could feature against Croatia if England can still qualify for the European Championships after this weekend's results.

Skipper Terry has repeatedly shown that he is ready to risk injury for both club and country in key games. Chelsea are getting him fit for their next match, against Derby County in 10 days' time, and they may set up a behind-closeddoors game before then to get the defender closer to match fitness.

However, Chelsea head coach Avram Grant has been more cautious than predecessor Jose Mourinho with recovery times for his injured players and he may not be keen to rush Terry back for his country.

Steve McClaren keeps a close eye on his stars

He said last week: "John likes to play and to train every day but he knows his situation and he's not fit to play.

"He will be able to play in two weeks' time and we need to take care of him because he always risks his body for Chelsea and for the national team. He has had a lot of injury problems. This will be the last, I hope. England will miss him because he is a great defender and a great leader but it was the right decision.

"He's a special guy and, even now, he wants to play but he cannot.

"If he was available for selection, I would be happy to see him play for England, but he is not."