<If Steve McClaren was a cat he’d probably have no lives left! Who’s the bookies’ favourite to be the next England manager if McClaren is forced to leave?

h4>Steve McClaren has dropped David Beckham and goalkeeper Paul Robinson for England’s vital Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia on Wednesday.

The England boss is believed to have opted for Shaun Wright-Phillips in place of Beckham while the inexperienced Carson comes in for Robinson.

England need a point to seal qualification for next summer’s finals in Austria and Switzerland, and a win by two clear goals would see them overhaul group leaders Croatia.

England captain Steve Gerrard said: “We can’t afford to have any slip-ups. We’ve got to give everything we’ve got and die out there for the result.”

McClaren said he would tell the players his starting line-up on Tuesday night.

“I know my team and I have done since the weekend but I am not going to reveal it and I am not giving any clues,” he said.

“Experience is key in big games – not just playing but on the bench and around the team,” he said.

McClaren has persevered with Spurs keeper Robinson throughout an erratic Euro 2008 campaign, but gave Carson his first start against Austria last Friday and is expected to stick with the 22-year-old.

The decision to drop Beckham is more unexpected after the England coach had flown to Los Angeles to assess the fitness of the former captain. However, on the evidence of his performance on Friday night against Austria, Beckham looked somewhat short of full match fitness.

“One of the reasons we had that game [in Austria] was to see people’s fitness,” said the England coach. “David lasted just over an hour. You could see he needed that game but the last two days in training he’s been very good, excellent.

“On Shaun Wright-Phillips, his last three games at Wembley were very good – he scored a couple of goals and created others. We did talk about pace on both flanks and the pleasing thing for me is that Wright-Phillips showed that, with Joe Cole on the other side.”

If Steve McClaren was a cat he’d probably have no lives left! Who’s the bookies’ favourite to be the next England manager if McClaren is forced to leave?