Owen injured in friendly win

Owen signalled his discomfort almost immediately after suffering the problem just 32 minutes into the victory and early reports suggest a month on the sidelines for England's fourth-highest scorer, which would rule him out of Wednesday's potentially crucial European Championship showdown with Croatia at Wembley.

The injury cast a shadow over England's success, only their second in six friendly games under McClaren, achieved by Peter Crouch's first-half header.

But McClaren knows the victory will be one of the most hollow imaginable anyway if Israel or, far less likely, Macedonia, cannot do him one huge favour on Saturday evening.

Owen's exit heralded the introduction of Jermain Defoe for one of his rare appearances and the Tottenham man must now have a good chance of starting next week.

Defoe's arrival worked to the extent that he was heavily involved in England's opener, albeit in a somewhat passive capacity as he stood directly in front of Manninger then moved out of the way at the last moment to allow Crouch's downward header to bounce in.

It was an unexpected breakthrough in the sense England had created hardly anything previously, Owen apart, despite being the better of two average teams.

Austria did little to counter their present lowly FIFA ranking of 88, just behind Zimbabwe, but England's struggles also undermined McClaren's argument that after eight difficult months at the start of his reign, the last six have seen a major improvement.

Joleon Lescott was assured enough at the heart of England's defence to suggest he will not let anyone down against Croatia and his stout work ensured young goalkeeper Scott Carson was not provided with too stiff a test on his debut.

Now, England can only cross their fingers and hope.