England v Macedonia
UEFA European Championship Qualifying Group E
5pm, Sat 7 October 2006
Old Trafford, Manchester 		Croatia v England
UEFA European Championship Qualifying Group E
6pm (BST), Wed 11 October 2006
Maksimir, Zagreb
Steve McClaren's England Record - Click here

Michael Carrick believes he can adapt to whatever system England play in their forthcoming European Championship qualifiers.

Carrick is in contention to take over from Owen Hargreaves in the holding midfield role after the Bayern Munich man suffered a broken leg.

But he believes Three Lions head coach Steve McClaren will not necessarily use the same approach in both games as England take on Macedonia on Saturday before travelling to Croatia for another crucial game on Wednesday.

And Carrick is confident he can cope with whatever formation may be employed.

"It all depends on the way the gaffer wants to go. He's talked about 3-5-2, and throughout the games that he's been in charge he's changed formations," the Manchester United star said.

"We have a home game and an away game coming up, and I wouldn't have thought the manager would want to play the same way in both matches, but we'll have to wait and see.

Carrick added: "To be honest, I haven't really played the holding role since I went to Manchester United. I've been getting forward more than I did in all of my Tottenham career.

"I really enjoyed playing that role at Tottenham, but it's a slightly different system at United and we sort of take turns in doing the role.

"I'm getting used to being in more forward positions, but I'm comfortable playing the holding role because I've done it for so long. It comes pretty naturally.''

Stay with TheFA.com as we build up to England v Macedonia.