Group E:England are set to rely on an unchanged line-up for tomorrow's crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Russia at Wembley, with Gareth Barry continuing his fledgling partnership with Steven Gerrard in the centre of midfield, after Owen Hargreaves was sent back to Manchester United last night to receive treatment on his thigh strain.
A scan last week had indicated that the injury was not serious but it has failed to heal sufficiently in the interim. Steve McClaren's hopes of recalling the experienced and tactically adept midfielder were dashed when he failed a fitness test yesterday and, with no prospect of him recovering in time, he was allowed to return to Carrington for treatment.
The 26-year-old had actually arrived back at the squad's Hertfordshire base on Sunday, some 24 hours before his team-mates, to undertake intensive fitness work with physiotherapist, Gary Lewin, in hopes of being available. However, by the time the rest of the squad reconvened at the team hotel yesterday lunchtime McClaren was already resigned to being without Hargreaves.
His absence is a blow. England are aware that they will need to retain possession well against Guus Hiddink's Russia - who have conceded only once in Group E and lead their hosts by a single point - with the visitors likely to pose far more of an attacking threat than Israel did at the weekend.
McClaren had been seeking a defensive shield in midfield, but that role is likely to be retained now by Barry. As expected, Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has also been released to return to his club for treatment on his own thigh injury.
England's coach was left to work with essentially the same group of players yesterday, with the bulk of the session spent fine-tuning tactical shape rather than specific teamwork. That will have kept the strikers Emile Heskey and Peter Crouch guessing as to who will partner Michael Owen up front. McClaren has yet to indicate to either that he will start the game. Heskey impressed on his first England appearance in 39 months but Crouch boasts an impressive scoring record at this level with 12 goals in 20 games. He returns from suspension for this tie.
Wayne Rooney has provided encouraging news for McClaren after a new X-ray of his broken foot showed that the healing process is ahead of schedule. He is still restricted to remedial work but is close to resuming full training to provide a major lift for both Manchester United and the England national team.
The forward suffered the hairline fracture in United's opening game of the Premier League season, at home to Reading on August 12th, and was initially ruled out for what the club said would be "at least six weeks".
That prognosis has now been tweaked to reflect the results of his latest scan and he has not ruled himself out of being on the bench for Saturday's Premier League game against his former club Everton or the first Champions League excursion of the season, against Sporting Lisbon in Portugal a week tomorrow. That may be considered too much of a risk by Alex Ferguson, but a realistic target is the visit of Chelsea to Old Trafford on September 23rd.
