England Head Coach Steve McClaren believes his team is making good progress as he looks back on his first four months in charge and ahead to 2007.

McClaren has been boosted by an encouraging performance in a friendly against Holland and by the form of key players such as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the Premiership. Now he has set out his aims for the future as 2006 draws to a close.

Speaking as a guest on Sky’s Goals on Sunday show he said: "The aim is to win a major tournament but to qualify is the first goal - to get in that arena again. I’ve been to three so far and to three quarter-finals. And let’s not forget that in two quarter-finals we have only gone out on penalty kicks. So we’re not doing too bad. We’re progressing well.

"I believe we’ve got a great squad. The average age is 25 or 26 and usually teams that achieve things in tournaments the average age is 28 or 29. So this squad has many years ahead of it. It will peak - and hopefully use the experience of all the bad times to come through and really work together as a team and achieve something in a tournament."

McClaren watched Arsenal beat Tottenham 3-0 on Saturday and met up with his predecessor Sven-Goran Eriksson at the Emirates Stadium. And it gave him time to look back on his tenure so far and assess what progress has been made.

There were excellent victories over Greece and Andorra for instance, as well as a disappointing defeat in Croatia and a home draw against Macedonia which drew criticism from some quarters. But McClaren has taken it all in his stride.

"It’s a great job, it really is," he said. "It’s the pinnacle. I’ve been involved in the international scene for five years now so I know exactly what it’s about. I know the pitfalls and I know what comes with it. I know all the expectation and I went in with my eyes wide open.

"I knew the players and the staff, I knew the whole scene so it’s been a comfortable transition. We’ve had ups and downs along the away but we’re heading in the right direction, I think."

McClaren admits the defeat in Croatia was a set-back for the Three Lions but the important thing is the way the players have reacted since, drawing 1-1 in Amsterdam and producing an impressive performance.

"We were absolutely delighted with the Holland game, we got back to what we were in the first few games," he said.

"The most disappointing result so far was probably Macedonia at home. You have to win your home games and we failed to do that.

"But the encouraging thing was after Croatia, meeting the players and knowing the spirit was still very good. We have a lot of elements to battle against but there is a lot of determination in that squad. We want to succeed - and we will do."