McClaren set for home front

Steve McClaren will watch six games in six days as he continues his search for England's fresh blood.

McClaren promised to give new players a chance after England took only one point from this month's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Macedonia and Croatia. The England boss postponed a trip to the USA, planned for this weekend, and will instead spend the time watching players in European and domestic competitions.

The 45-year-old told the Football Association's official website, www.thefa.com: "It's important to get back into the domestic game now and see as many players as I can. You can learn a lot about players when you have them at close hand in the England set-up, but there's a lot of other aspects you gather from watching them playing for their clubs."

He added: "This week there will be some of the best players in the world looking to get results in England, the likes of Ronaldinho and Deco for Barcelona, Tuncay and Alex for Fenerbahce.

"It's different football styles and different ways of playing the game, you can find out so much about players when they come up against such varied opponents."

The former Middlesbrough boss, who saw Bolton win at Newcastle on Sunday, will watch Manchester United against Copenhagen and Chelsea against Barcelona in the Champions League.

He will take in Newcastle against Fenerbahce in the UEFA Cup on Thursday and then Aston Villa v Fulham in the Premiership and Manchester United against Liverpool on Sunday.

McClaren said: "The Premier League is looking really competitive and a number of clubs have made really impressive starts.

"It can only be good news with so many close matches, the players are really raising the standard."