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AUSTRIA 0 ENGLAND 1 - OWEN SUFFERS MORE INJURY WOE
Steve McClaren admits the loss of Michael Owen for Wednesday's potential Euro 2008 decider against Croatia is a "massive blow" for England.
Newcastle hitman Owen suffered a thigh strain just after the half-hour mark in Friday night's 1-0 friendly win over Austria - and now faces a month out.
He joins fellow crocks Wayne Rooney and John Terry in the treatment room, while Rio Ferdinand is suspended for Wednesday's match.
"It's a massive blow but injuries are part of football," said McClaren. "It's unfortunate but I do believe we need to win on Wednesday to qualify.
"We go into the match without two centre-halves and two centre-forwards but, if it comes to it, I believe there is enough spirit."
The former Middlesbrough boss was frustrated by his team's efforts in the second half but was eager to stress the heartening aspects of the game.
"It was important that we came through it and won it," he said. "In the first half, we got quite a lot out of it. It was good but we could have scored more.
"The second half disappointed me in some ways. I expected us to go on the attack and get more goals but we were disappointing in the second half.
"But there were plusses. Scott (Carson) kept a clean sheet, (Joleon) Lescott and Sol (Campbell) were formidable and Frank (Lampard) on his return to the team was man of the match and rightly so."
Peter Crouch scored the only goal from David Beckham's 44th-minute corner and Lampard believes the tall Liverpool forward is capable of filling the void left by Owen.
"It is a huge blow. We all know Michael's quality but if results go our way (England need Russia or Croatia to drop points on Saturday) it give us a chance to qualify," he said.
"Crouchy has shown what he can do, and Jermain (Defoe) came on. We will have to get on with it and use the squad."
Crouch was satisfied with the performance despite the friendly being of little use to their Euro 2008 qualification hopes.
"It is difficult to come away from home, wherever you go. We should have maybe made it easier for ourselves in the second half," he said.
"The main objective is Wednesday - we need to get a result there if we can get a result (from one of their rivals) tomorrow."
Crouch has scored 11 times in 13 starts for England and he said of that impressive record: "I'm really proud of it. The lads made a few chances for me."
By Bettingzone.co.uk
Used with permission.
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