SOCCER: Group E: Estonia v England:There are all sorts of virtues that a manager might crave but it is revealing that Steve McClaren should call for patience against the country ranked 110th in the world.

He did have a case as he pointed out that Estonia had tested both Russia and, on Saturday, Croatia in Tallinn. The calmness the England manager really seeks is in the temperament of the fans as much as his own squad.

To that end, he would not discuss his possible dismissal. "We are here to win," was his stolid reply.

McClaren's preference was to give glowing reviews for both the mood in the squad after the friendly with Brazil and the preparations over the last fortnight.

"Winning will put us in a good position," he said of tonight's Group E contest, "and four of the last five games are at home. The players enjoyed the atmosphere at Wembley."

England have striven doggedly to communicate a relaxed tone and did not even have a training session on the pitch in Tallinn. This could genuinely have had the air of an end-of-season jaunt, with aspiration only just keeping the sense of recreation at bay.

That, of course, is not how England's season is coming to a close. Results thus far in the Euro 2008 qualifiers mean that there is a fidgety concern about this game, even if it is merely the fact that they do not get bogged down by a defence that has managed to keep Estonia above Andorra at the bottom of the group.

Against opponents who have neither scored nor taken a point the only fear England can have is that they could suffer another freakish failure.

After all, this is a team that was goalless in a home draw with Macedonia at Old Trafford. There was a lot rumbling through the minds of the squad as their delayed flight from Manchester sat on the tarmac yesterday.

Steve McClaren, too, would have to put in a prodigious effort to seem carefree when an unsatisfactory season could cost him his job after less than a year in the post. In essence, it is difficult to imagine that the stakes will feel so high once the match settles down at the A Le Coq Arena. England merely have to come up with competence and concentration.

They can never have supposed they would be poring over team news from the opposition camp, but McClaren and his backroom staff will be secretly happy that the fairly effective defender Raio Piiroja is suspended. The Estonia coach, Jelle Goes, is certainly aghast since his officials had misunderstood Uefa's disciplinary system and blithely claimed at first that the player would be eligible.

The constitution of the England line-up is a cause of more prolonged reflection for McClaren. A variety of options were considered on the training ground before and after the draw with Brazil in Friday's friendly. Should Jamie Carragher now be fielded at centre-half, the manager will have to rule on who comes in at right-back.

There is a temptation to employ Kieron Dyer there and he did make his international debut in that position, against Luxembourg eight years ago. All the same, a vigorous counter-argument exists that his ability to run at opponents should not be deployed until Estonia are tiring, with a more orthodox figure, such as Wes Brown, initially on the right. "Away teams don't necessarily go gung-ho from the start," McClaren said. On the left flank, the manager will deliver his verdict on whether Nicky Shorey is to give way to Wayne Bridge, who had a hip injury last week.

In attack there is a preference to be declared. Would Alan Smith, with the attributes of a target man, be the right foil for Michael Owen despite his ineffectiveness against Brazil? Or is it wiser to call in Peter Crouch, who has proven that he can be a devastating scorer against the weaker defences?

The Liverpool attacker's run of 11 international goals over a run of 10 appearances in 2006 does look bewitching in the present circumstances. "He's been very effective against these teams," said McClaren meaningfully.

It is the essence of this fixture, of course, that any stance the manager adopts will look correct so long as England's overall display is imposing. There is no conventional reason for the side to be uneasy when Andres Oper is absent. Ankle surgery rules out the last man to score a competitive goal for Estonia; he struck twice in the 2-0 victory over Luxembourg in October 2005.

No matter how careful England are at the outset they must aim to overwhelm Estonia towards the close.

The home goalkeeper, Mart Poom, was at Derby when McClaren was coaching there and the manager said: "He's a workaholic. We used to give him the keys to the gym and tell him to lock up when he went home."

The visitors will dream, nonetheless, of forcing Poom to exhaustion today.