England vs Macedonia & Croatia

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England vs Macedonia Oct 7 and Croatia on Oct 11

ANDY JOHNSON has been forced to pull out of the England squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers with Macedonia and Croatia.

Johnson, 25, was widely expected to feature in both games after netting six goals for Everton following his summer move from Crystal Palace.

But the hitman picked up a hamstring injury in the last minute of Saturday's 1-1 draw with Manchester City at Goodison Park.

England boss Steve McClaren said: "Andy's definitely out of the games. He will be replace by Charlton's Darren Bent.

Squad: Robinson (Tottenham), Foster (Man Utd), Kirkland (Liverpool); G Neville (Man Utd), P Neville (Everton), Brown (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea), Ferdinand (Man Utd), Carragher (Liverpool), King (Tottenham), A Cole (Chelsea), Bridge (Chelsea); Lampard (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Jenas (Tottenham), Carrick (Man Utd), Richardson (Man Utd), Downing (Middlesbrough), Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), Parker (Newcastle); Rooney (Man Utd), Crouch (Liverpool), Bent (Charlton), Defoe (Spurs).

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Michael Carrick is looking to impress England manager Steve McClaren this week in order to fill in for Owen Hargreaves against Macedonia and Croatia in Euro 2008 qualifying.

Bayern Munich man Hargreaves had made the midfield anchor role his own in recent games, but injury has brought a halt to his progress.

A number of players have trained their sights on deputising for Hargreaves, Phil Neville, Jermaine Jenas and Scott Parker among them, but Manchester United schemer Carrick is looking to get the jump on his rivals.

monoslayer SG

scotty parker to shine n dominate the midfield! Very Happy

used SG

becks is out for good! england should win convincingly against both teams

Dead_Man_Inc SG

sad to see him in a bad shape now

he may be even replace by reyes in real madrid Crying or Very sad

used SG

you seem to really like becks….

zocoss SG

Steve McClaren has revealed he could consider changing his formation in the absence of Owen Hargreaves in England's midfield.

"We're thinking long and hard about what we play now Owen is out," McClaren said. "We might have to change it a little bit because losing a big player like that just changes the balance of the team.

If McClaren does go with a direct replacement for Hargreaves, Phil Neville, Scott Parker and Michael Carrick appear to be the viable options.

McClaren feels in order to be successful, England must be able to adapt to different formations. "They the players have to be intelligent and be able to adapt to different roles and different responsibilities.

England face Macedonia at Old Trafford before making the trip to Zagreb to take on Slaven Bilic's Croatia in what McClaren believes will be the toughest game of the qualifying campaign.

He added: "Croatia is a big test for any team. They are a very good team technically.

"In Croatia you're also dealing with the atmosphere, the intensity of the crowd, so it will be a big test for our players."

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FRANK LAMPARD has warned his England team-mates: We should all fear the axe after what happened to David Beckham.

Skipper Becks was ditched from the squad when new boss Steve McClaren made his first selection after the World Cup finals.

And midfielder Lamps said: What happened with Becks is a warning because it could easily be me or Wayne Rooney or John Terry.

And Chelsea ace Lampard, 28, confessed that all Englands top stars have to prove themselves after Germany.

He said: I was surprised by what happened to Becks but its important that you know you dont have a divine right to be picked in the first place.

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ENGLAND'S Euro 2008 qualifying campaign kicked off in style with a 5-0 win over Andorra.

Steve McClaren's men then made it six points from two games by picking up a 1-0 victory in Macedonia.

Yet with the likes of Croatia and Russia still to come, the Three Lions will have to be at their best to make it to Austria and Switzerland.

Check out the map below for the countries England will have to visit in Group E.

Dead_Man_Inc SG

will israel go crazy and bomb them? Embarassed

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CROATIA boss Slaven Bilic warmed up for next weeks battle with England by insisting: You were s**t at the World Cup and youre not much better now.

The former West Ham and Everton defender was appalled at Englands displays in Germany during the summer.

He reckons Sven Goran Erikssons men were so bad he was lost for words and believes Steve McClaren has to shoulder some of the blame.

Bilic, 38, said: England were s**t at the World Cup. They were no good. They were nothing.

tarcki SG

no beckham again... Sad

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England coach Steve McClaren says there is no chance his players would ever pick the team, ahead of their Euro 2008 qualifier against Macedonia.

At a news conference, McClaren reacted angrily to a suggestion the players had forced him to scrap plans for a 3-5-2.

"The players do not pick the team and I can categorically say that the players did not have a meeting," said McClaren.

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Latest News.

Injury rules out Rio. England will be without Rio Ferdinand for today's Euro 2008 qualifying clash with Macedonia after the Manchester United defender was forced to pull out with an injury. Spurs defender Ledley King gets another chance to impress as a central defender, while Michael Carrick edges out Scott Parker in the race to replace Owen Hargreaves.

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As word filtered through of Scotland's win over France, disbelieving England supporters wandered home disillusioned again by a team who promise much and deliver too little.

England started with purpose, markedly at odds with the negativity of their final 15 minutes against Macedonia in last month, when they guarded a 1-0 lead with a lack of conviction. Here they went looking to hurt the opposition at every twist and turn.

A draw was a fair result, the England performance again worryingly uneven.

England 0 - 0 Macedonia

ENGLAND Robinson; G Neville, Terry, King, Cole; Gerrard, Lampard, Carrick, Downing (Wright-Phillips 70); Rooney (Defoe 75), Crouch Subs not used Kirkland, P Neville, Carragher, Parker, Bent

MACEDONIA Nikolovski; Noveski, Petrov, Sedloski; Lazarevski, I Mitreski, A Mitreski, Sumulikoski, Maznov; Naumoski (Stojkov ht), Pandev (Tasevski 83) Subs not used Pacovski, Jancevski, Vasovski, Popov, Sakiri

Referee M Merk (Germany)

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Final score

Croatia 2 - 0 England.

McClaren should get the sack man... Stupid way of play... The first goal was again Terry's mistake... Making him captain was a bad choice to start with... Gerrard would have been a better captain.

Now that he is the captain, you can't drop him... he will play every match... he makes too many mistakes. He let the shortest guy on the field, the guy he was suppose to mark score with his head! It looks just like the Liverpool goal in the Community Shield. Again he didn't know the position to cover. I always said, Gallas covered alot of his shortcomings... and now we are seeing the real terry.

Overall, it was McClaren fault. The FA should think of something fast before its too late. Clearly McClaren is not the right guy. He make England look like they were Middlesbrough.

Dead_Man_Inc SG

anyone saw the own goal?

wasn't really gary's fault, the ball somehow tip upwards abit just as robinson wanted to kick it. i think the pitch uneven?

Dead_Man_Inc SG

took a break from studies, then went to watch this match

oh ya, croatia won england for the first time right?

stellazio SG

3-5-2..i guess steve will neevr think bout it again. Laughing

i dun understand one thing, just becuz hargreaves is missing, he have to change the formation?they have a more den able replacement in scott parker already. Rolling Eyes

and to change formation in a crucial toughest match of their group so far is absurd.if its friendly still ok, but against croatia away who are no whipping dogs.

anyway, dun u think everytime england seems to have found a new no.1, calamity will befall him? Laughing