England v Estonia
UEFA European Championship Qualifier
3pm, Saturday 13 October 2007
Wembley Stadium
Live on BBC1

Russia v England
UEFA European Championship Qualifier
4pm (BST), Wednesday 17 October 2007
Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Live on Sky Sports

England Head Coach Steve McClaren has laid down the challenge to the returning members of his squad ahead of the forthcoming Euro 2008 Qualifiers against Estonia and Russia.

McClaren welcomes back Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard to the squad following suspension and injury respectively, but given the impressive performances and results against Israel and Russia at Wembley last month, they both face a challenge to re-claim a place in the team.

Gareth Barry started both of the matches at Wembley alongside Steven Gerrard in midfield, whilst Emile Heskey proved a worthy foil for Michael Owen up front in Rooney and Lampard’s absence.

Whilst Heskey is ruled out of this squad through injury, McClaren still has the likes of Owen, Dean Ashton, Peter Crouch, Andrew Johnson, Jermain Defoe and Alan Smith fighting for places up front and with a squad of 27 selected, competition for a starting berth will be fierce.

“People who were out of the squad last time must have looked in and known that they have to perform,” said McClaren.

“They need to train well and that’s the kind of attitude that we’re looking for.

“I was disappointed we didn’t have Frank the last two games because I thought against Germany he was our man-of-the-match.

“Gareth Barry came in and did extremely well and did a fantastic job, so that gives me options and competition for places.

“Whatever team we feel will be the best to win the game will play.”

The results in those games put England into a good position to qualify for Euro 2008, but with three games still to go in Group E, McClaren is urging his players to finish the job.

“We know what we need to do and we need to concentrate on Estonia first, get the three points and then move on to Russia,” he added.

“We need to maintain the performances that we’ve had over the last few games and it’s important that we focus on that.”