Many of the players who gathered at England’s training camp at a leafy Hertfordshire hotel last night have been queueing up to give their public backing to Steve McClaren, though not all them are so supportive of the England head coach. Nicky Shorey is an unlikely dissenter as a fringe squad member with only two caps, but that has not stopped him becoming the first player to criticise McClaren’s team selection for last month’s crucial 2-1 defeat in Russia. If results do not go England’s way in the next eight days, then others are likely to follow.

As with those who side with the man responsible for their continued international careers, Shorey’s comments are laced with a dose of self-interest. The Reading left back is unhappy that, with Ashley Cole out through injury, he was overlooked for the match in Moscow in favour of Joleon Lescott, a centre back whose nervous performance contributed to the defeat.

Lescott looked out of his depth, but Shorey can consider himself fortunate to be in an unbalanced squad for the matches in the next eight days that, with Cole and Wayne Bridge back from injury, features three left backs, two centre backs and two right backs.

If McClaren earns a reprieve, Shorey may not be around for long once the head coach has read what he has to say about the Russia match. “I was gutted,” Shorey said. “I did not get a chance. For whatever reason, the manager decided to go with someone else. It was not until the day before that I had an idea I might not start. The manager had called up two left backs for those two games and when one gets injured, you think the other is going to get a game.

“When I played for him I have done well, against Brazil and then Germany, so it was a bit upsetting. It is a huge privilege to play for England and that disappointment will just drive me on. Club form is more important and I’d like to get back to playing my best football. I want to show people I am one of the best left backs about.”

The absence of his first-choice central defensive pairing of John Terry and Rio Ferdinand through injury and suspension respectively has left McClaren with a dearth of options at the back, with his only real choice being whether to play Lescott, Micah Richards or Wes Brown alongside Sol Campbell. Richards is expected to get the nod against Austria on Friday and would relish moving into the middle, with Brown likely to be rewarded for some outstanding performances for Manchester United this year by coming in at right back.

“Friday’s friendly with Austria will be a chance to test a few things out ahead of the Croatia game, which is the big one,” Richards said. “I could be asked to play at centre back and I would feel more than comfortable to play there. I do not mind whether I play at right back or in the middle. If the manager asks me to play somewhere, I will always give 100 per cent.” Richards is doing his best to stay positive, like his head coach, though that could change after Saturday’s match in Tel Aviv. “It will not be enjoyable but I will be watching the Israel-Russia game on Saturday night,” he said. “There is nothing I can do except hope and pray that Israel pick up at least a point.

“If we had an away game as our last qualifier, then it might be a different story, but we seem to be a different team at home and we are confident that we can keep that up. We will have to go out there and play our game, block everything else out, try to get the three points, and hopefully that will be enough.”