· McClaren ponders switch to Carson or James in goal· Hargreaves set to return in five-man midfield Steve McClaren's faith in Paul Robinson for tomorrow's decisive qualifier against Croatia has been severely tested after a series of errors by the Tottenham goalkeeper in training yesterday morning। Robinson's slack handling at London Colney suggested he is still suffering from the crisis in confidence that has blighted his campaign. McClaren is now considering playing either Aston Villa's Scott Carson, who won his first cap in Friday's friendly win in Austria, or the experienced Portsmouth goalkeeper David James against the group leaders in the game from which England must take at least a point to guarantee their place at Euro 2008. Robinson has played every minute of the qualifiers so far despite his suspect form. Indeed, it was against Croatia in Zagreb 13 months ago that he endured his first truly trying moment in the national team when Gary Neville's back-pass reared up and bobbled through his attempt to clear, doubling Croatia's lead. Robinson has consistently received McClaren's full public backing to date and could justifiably call that experience freakish. But the coach would perhaps be more worried about the mistakes the goalkeeper made in games against Germany and Russia this season when his parries have gone straight to opposing strikers,and both games were lost. Even so, tomorrow's match offered the chance to make amends for the pain of Zagreb, rendering his sloppy performance in training yesterday particularly untimely. McClaren has a further training session this morning to assess his options and will consider Carson. The debutant was rarely tested against a weak Austrian side and there are believed to be understandable concerns about flinging the 22-year-old Aston Villa goalkeeper, despite his encouraging form, into competitive action in such a critical fixture. For his part, James may have 35 caps but he has made only one appearance for England - as a second-half substitute in the friendly with Germany in August - since the last warm-up match before the 2006 World Cup. While the management considered their options in goal, the squad was bolstered by the return of the Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves, recovered now from the tendinitis that has troubled him all season since his summer move from Bayern Munich. He is expected to return against Croatia, most likely as part of a five-man midfield with either Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard asked to maraud upfield in regular support of Peter Crouch. McClaren is expected to retain David Beckham on the right to earn a 99th cap, despite the LA Galaxy midfielder's lack of match fitness. The 32-year-old set up Crouch's winner at the Ernst Happel Stadium but was withdrawn, clearly exhausted, after 62 minutes. Shaun Wright-Phillips, in particular, and David Bentley are competing for inclusion in his place, although Beckham's experience on critical occasions such as this is likely to sway the management. Such a set-up is anticipated by the Croatia manager Slaven Bilic, who is likely to be without Mladen Petric after the Borussia Dortmund forward went down with a virus, so Ivica Olic of Hamburg is now likely to play alongside Arsenal's Eduardo da Silva. "England will line up 4-1-4-1, I'm sure," said Bilic. "I'm sure they'll try to push forward, but they will do it cautiously. The squad that played in Vienna is the one that will play against us, I'm sure. "I hear Guus Hiddink is urging us to win the game and give them a chance still of qualifying, but we play for ourselves, not for Russia. We want a quality result and I expect the game to be a great spectacle. We know England very well. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us. Pele once said his biggest regret was not playing at Wembley. Well, we will have that chance now. We want to make the most of it." Mercedes motivation A Russian billionaire has offered four Mercedes cars to Croatia if they beat England tomorrow, a result that would give Russia a chance to reach the finals. Spartak Moscow's owner Leonid Fedun said he wanted to bolster Croatia's morale by offering their goalkeeper and best three outfield players a new car each - Croatia's goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa plays for Spartak. "I'm doing this strictly as a fan," said Fedun. "If we have even a small chance we must try to use it." An English bookmaker had promised a Mercedes to the Israel player who scored a winning goal against Russia but the Israeli FA said Omer Golan would not be able to accept the gift because it was deemed to be "beyond the bounds of sportsmanship".
