McClaren backs Scholes to put an end to his England goal drought

ENGLAND ASSISTANT coach Steve McClaren has backed Paul Scholes to end his three-year international goal drought before the end of the Euro 2004 finals.

Having coached Scholes at club level with Manchester United, as well as with England, McClaren is mystified by the midfielder's failure to find the net for his country since June 6, 2001.

For he believes that, just like David Beckham and Michael Owen, Scholes can and, indeed, must emerge as a match-winner as England look to achieve success in Portugal.

Scholes and Owen have found their places under renewed scrutiny this summer, while even Beckham's impact has not been as great as normal.

However, McClaren insisted: "That's the beauty of our team. Wayne Rooney is grabbing the headlines now but we've got so many other match-winners who have yet to win games.

"With the likes of David Beckham, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes and Frank Lampard, there's match-winners all over the park."

As for Scholes, he added: "It's an unbelievable statistic that he hasn't scored for England for three years as he's regularly in the box.

"It just hasn't fallen for him. I think it's only a matter of time, so I'd be very surprised if he ended the tournament without having scored.

"But he's an all-round player, not just one who can get into the box. He keeps defenders on their toes and creates space for other players."

Owen, meanwhile, has also failed to find the net against either France or Switzerland, although Sven-Goran Eriksson has made it clear his place in the team is safe.

McClaren added: "That's never been on the agenda. He has proved invaluable to England in the past, he's playing a major part in this tournament and I think he will only get better.

"Michael would admittedly be disappointed that he hasn't scored a goal and probably played as well as he would have liked.

"But he's world-class and he gains the respect of every defender he plays against, and he will score goals.

"There was an improvement in the last game and, if he's not scoring, then he must do as he did against Switzerland set up goals and create room for other people like Wayne Rooney."

Croatian coach Otto Baric has been boosted by the news captain Boris Zivkovic, the former Portsmouth defender, has shrugged off his knee problem and is expected to start.

Croatia (probable): Butina; Simic, Kovac, Zivkovic, Tudor; Bjelica, Rosso, Kovac, Rapaic; Prso, Sokota

England (probable): James; Neville, Terry, Campbell, Cole; Beckham , Lampard, Gerrard, Scholes; Rooney, Owen.