Steve McClaren received more bad news yesterday when the England head coach discovered that David Beckham and Owen Hargreaves are struggling to be fit to play against Germany on Wednesday. Steven Gerrard is expected to pull out of the squad this morning after undergoing a scan on a fractured toe, leaving McClaren short of options for the prestige friendly at Wembley.

David Beckham’s appearance for LA Galaxy in the 5-4 defeat away to the New York Red Bulls may have been a marketing success but McClaren was counting the cost after the former England captain aggravated an ankle injury by playing a full game on an artificial surface.

“My ankle took a pounding,” Beckham said. “I’m not used to this surface but it wasn’t bad. It’s more swollen than it was before the game but I’m sure it will be fine for Wednesday. The coaching staff kept asking me if I wanted to come off but I’m quite a stubborn person on and off the field. When we were winning I didn’t want to come off and when we were losing I didn’t want to come off. Hopefully, I’ll be playing some sort of role on Wednesday.”

Beckham has a better chance of recovering in time than Hargreaves, whose knees were sore after he made his debut for Manchester United in yesterday’s 1-0 defeat away to Manchester City. Although Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, claimed that Hargeaves would not be fit to play on Wednesday, McClaren insists that he will make the final decision. “I was very surprised he [Hargreaves] lasted 90 minutes,” McClaren said. “I thought he was bound to have a reaction. We will have to assess it later on.”

Gerrard played for Liverpool in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Anfield yesterday after having a painkilling injection but the Liverpool captain indicated that he was unlikely to play on Wednesday. “I need rest to be ready for the England qualifiers in October,” Gerrard said. “I looked fit because I had a painkilling injection. The sensible thing is to make sure you are ready for the big games. If the X-ray shows the crack has healed I will be playing for England but I can’t see it because three days ago I had an X-ray and I had broken a toe.”

Beckham will arrive in England today after captivating New York on Saturday. Nearly all the crowd at Giants Stadium were there for one reason: him. Beckham told The Times last week that he welcomed the comparison with Pelé, who played for the New York Cosmos in the 1970s.

“Of course, I’ve read about it, I’ve seen the videos, seen the documentary, seen some of the games he was involved in,” he said. It was Beckham’s first 90 minutes since he joined the Los Angeles Galaxy. Bruce Arena, the Red Bulls’ head coach, suggested that Beckham was “probably playing at 60 to 75 per cent”. He jogged or walked around the middle third, given plenty of time to spray passes of great accuracy and incision, though he sent three free kicks from the edge of the area into the wall.

“I haven’t been involved in a game like that since I was nine or ten years old,” Beckham said. If that should temper expectations for Wednesday’s game, it was irrelevant in New York because the hysteria was the point. There was gridlock on the roads around the stadium because of a crowd for soccer worthy of gridiron: 66,237, the largest at the venue since the Cosmos were in their prime. The Red Bulls’ average attendance of 11,573 this term had been the second-worst in the MLS. The glut of goals and Beckham’s performance must help the game’s chances of growing in the city.

Harry Redknapp suggested on Saturday that Sol Campbell, the Portsmouth defender, had never been close to being fit enough to join up with David James and the rest of the England party after suffering a groin injury in the opening match of the season against Derby County.

“It’s great to have two players [in the England squad], but Sol’s not fit,” the Porstmouth manager said. “No chance. He’s going to need treatment all week. We need him back in the team. He needs to be here having treatment.

“He can’t play Wednesday, that’s for sure, he’s got a groin strain.”

England’s wounded

McClaren’s crocked XI (5-4-1) Ben Foster (knee) Gary Neville (calf) Sol Campbell (groin) Ledley King (knee) Jonathan Woodgate (knee) Wayne Bridge (hip) David Beckham (ankle) Steven Gerrard (toe) Owen Hargreaves (knee) Aaron Lennon (knee) Wayne Rooney (foot)

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