Graphic: Formations, bets and every last statistic

David Beckham has been dropped for England’s decisive European Championship qualifying match against Croatia this evening after Steve McClaren concluded that the former captain was not fit enough to start in such an important game. In another ruthless move on the head coach’s part, Paul Robinson has lost his place in goal, with Scott Carson preferred for what will be a daunting competitive debut in a match that England cannot afford to lose.

McClaren informed his players of the team at a meeting at the squad’s Hertfordshire base last night, with Robinson, England’s first-choice goal-keeper for the past three years, upset to learn that he had lost out to Carson, 22, who won his first cap in the friendly away to Austria on Friday.

Beckham was similarly disappointed to discover that he would be replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips, but McClaren feels that the 32-year-old, troubled by injury problems since his summer move to the Los Angeles Galaxy, lacks the fitness levels to warrant a place in the starting lineup, even though he set up the only goal for Peter Crouch against Austria.

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BACKGROUND

• England drop Beckham and Robinson

• McClaren demonstrates courage for art of survival

• Gerrard urges fans to be twelfth man

• Defence called on to compile case for the untried

BACKGROUND

• Croatia driven by lure of Premier League

• Playing for a draw . . . a history of success

• Ten judgment days

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With Gareth Barry also recalled in the midfield holding role, in preference to the fit-again Owen Hargreaves, McClaren has demonstrated that England will no longer be selected on reputation, as has often seemed to be the case in the recent past.

Despite Beckham’s enduring popularity, all three decisions are likely to be warmly welcomed by the Wembley crowd this evening, but McClaren is aware that they will be held against him if England fail to get the point they need to qualify for Euro 2008. If Croatia win, Russia will need only to beat the minnows of Andorra to pip England to second place and bring McClaren’s reign to a swift and inglorious conclusion.

McClaren, though, was upbeat yesterday, hinting at the selection of Carson and Wright-Phillips when he suggested that innocence may be more valuable than experience on an evening when fear cannot be allowed to creep into English minds.

“There’s risk in everything,” he said. “Experience is invaluable in these situations, but so is the innocence of youth. One or two of our younger players have come out of that. Micah Richards and even Joleon Lescott in the last couple of games have shown they can handle the situation. It’s a big game and we need big-game players. But it doesn’t matter what age you are. You can still be a big-game player whether you’re 18 or 33.”

Beckham, who has complained of a back problem in the past couple of days, could have a part to play this evening from the substitutes’ bench. While his prospects of remaining in the squad beyond this match are no longer so clear – and likewise his chances of winning the two caps he needs to reach 100 – McClaren has shown himself to be sufficiently pragmatic to judge players on form rather than allow complacency to creep into an underperforming team.

“It’s not about individuals,” McClaren said. “It’s about the team. The reason we’ve done so well in the second half of this campaign is because we’ve played as a team. It’s the team ethic. That’s what we’ve got and what we have to keep.”

England will win group E if they beat Croatia by more than two goals, but they have another incentive to do so. In Fifa’s rankings, which are due to be used to determine the seeding for this weekend’s World Cup qualifying draw, they are ninth, two places behind Croatia. Victory would probably take them into the top eight - and, it is expected, a place among the top seeds – at the expense of Croatia.