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Fabio Capello fears that England’s chances are being undermined by the attitude of the leading Barclays Premier League clubs in the build-up to the game in Croatia that could make or break their World Cup qualifying campaign.

Capello is upset at being kept in the dark by Liverpool over Steven Gerrard’s groin operation and he now faces a battle with Manchester United over the release of Owen Hargreaves.

The England manager was stunned by news of Gerrard’s surgery, which came late on Wednesday night, and his mood will not have been improved by comments from Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday, which suggested that the Manchester United manager would resist any attempt to select Hargreaves for international duty.

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Capello is concerned that his squad will be dramatically weakened for the match in Zagreb on September 10, in which avoiding defeat is essential. He will travel to Monaco today specifically to watch Hargreaves in the Uefa Super Cup against Zenit St Petersburg and, if Hargreaves can prove his fitness, was planning to restore him to the England midfield, perhaps in place of Gareth Barry.

Those plans are in disarray and Capello is increasingly concerned at the lack of information his backroom staff has received before such an important match, particularly on the subject of Gerrard’s operation.

The Liverpool captain will miss the matches with Andorra a week tomorrow and Croatia four days later in a bid to clear up his troublesome groin injury, yet the first that Capello or any of his backroom staff knew of the decision was after Liverpool’s Champions League win over Standard Liège, when a telephone call from Gary Lewin, the England physiotherapist, alerted them to the problem.

Capello is dismayed at receiving no warning and there are suspicions that Liverpool had the international week pencilled in all along as the time that was best for Gerrard to have surgery, although Capello accepts that the timing of the operation is a matter for Gerrard’s club. Certainly, the England management will keep a close eye on whether Gerrard is able to play for Liverpool against Manchester United on September 13. Early indications are that this will be too soon, but if Gerrard is available it will add to the theory that Liverpool scheduled the operation to suit their needs while keeping Capello in the dark.

There is little doubt that Capello expected Gerrard to report for training next week. On Wednesday, he met reporters from the Sunday newspapers and answered a significant number of questions about Gerrard’s role, all from the perspective that he would be playing. Had he known that there was a problem, he would surely have mentioned it then. Gerrard has been carrying the niggling injury all season, but has been used in every match by Liverpool, with Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva involved in the Olympics. He played the full two hours against Standard on Wednesday night, when the tie went to extra time. Now that Mascherano and Lucas have returned, Gerrard’s presence is not as essential.

The Croatia game is Capello’s biggest of the year and and he is only too aware that when England lost 2-0 in Croatia in 2006 - a result that set the European Championship qualifying campaign on course for failure - Steve McClaren was missing a number of key players, including Gerrard, who was suspended.

Had Capello known that he would be without Gerrard against Croatia, he might have picked a different team for the friendly game against the Czech Republic, in which the Liverpool man was used in a supporting forward role on the left. Capello had earmarked the position for Gerrard again and, although Joe Cole has played there for England, Capello views him as a vastly different type. So Capello’s plans are up in the air, particularly as the availability of Hargreaves seems a matter of negotiation, not selection.

“I think it is impossible for him to play for England,” Ferguson said. “This will be his first start and he certainly won’t be on for more than an hour. After that, he will need a recovery period, so I think it is very, very unlikely that Fabio would risk him.” Michael Carrick, who has been struggling with injury this season, did not travel to Monaco and must also be rated doubtful for England.

- Lord Triesman, the FA chairman, speaking for the first time since the sudden announcement of Brian Barwick’s departure as chief executive nine days ago, denied that the move was the result of a Soho Square power battle. “I have said to the [FA] board I do not want to be an executive chairman,” Lord Triesman said in Monaco. “Two days, 2½ days a week was the aim and that is still the model. I am going to make sure the FA runs to the standards I believe are right.”