McClaren: Goalie decision made days ago

Although McClaren himself remains tight-lipped, it has emerged international rookie Scott Carson will make his first competitive appearance in Wednesday night's must-not-lose encounter with Croatia at Wembley.

"I made my mind up about the goalkeeping situation well before the players joined up on Sunday evening," said McClaren. "I have made plenty of big decisions in the past and this is a big game when more big decisions will be made."

He added: "It does not matter what age you are. You can be a big-game player at 18 or 33. Experience can be invaluable but so can the innocence of youth. There is risk in everything."

While no-one would put McClaren down as a gambler in the same mould as someone like Jose Mourinho, who at times made all three available substitutions by half-time when things were not going Chelsea's way, the former Middlesbrough coach is ending a roller-coaster qualifying campaign with some pretty significant calls.

If David Beckham is to win a 99th cap, it appears he will do so as a substitute as Shaun Wright-Phillips is set for a start along with Gareth Barry, who has been preferred to Owen Hargreaves as the holding player in a five-man midfield; a joint reward for the pair's efforts in a largely effective autumn campaign until a mad five minutes in Moscow put England's qualification hopes in jeopardy.

"The reason we have done so well in the second half of the campaign is that we have played as a team," said McClaren.

"It is not about individuals, it is about a team ethic. That is what we have in this squad and that is what we have to keep.

"The last three games Shaun Wright-Phillips has played at Wembley have been very good.

"He has scored a couple of goals and created chances. We have spoken about having pace on both flanks and Shaun has given us that."