FA were ready to help McCalren on Cup replay chaos

The Football Association were prepared to put back the FA Cup semi-finals in an attempt to solve the ‘nightmare’ fixture congestion which has led to 13 of Steve McClaren’s England squad facing two games in 48 hours this weekend.

With Manchester United and Middlesbrough and Chelsea and Tottenham requiring replays to settle their quarter-finals, Monday evening has suddenly become a pivotal day in McClaren’s preparation for next weekend’s key Euro 2008 qualifier with Israel.