By this time next week, McClaren's England could be out of Euro 2008 and he might well be out of a job.

Indeed, in the worst-case scenario, the roar of the Three Lions will effective be silenced within 48 hours should Russia defeat Israel in Tel Aviv and Croatia gain a point from their trip to Macedonia.

Yet McClaren remains positive, optimistic and defiant.

Meetings with Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick this week have not even touched on McClaren's present job prospects.

And while the thorny issue of McClaren's position within an FA delegation bound for next weekend's World Cup draw in South Africa will need to be clarified at some point before Friday's departure should England's week finish as miserably as most pundits expect, the coach is refusing to entertain any bleak thoughts.

"I believe I will survive," he said.

"I have come through adversity in the past and I am sure I will again.

"We are in a period of uncertainty. But the uncertainty is about this qualifying campaign, not my job.

"Qualification is out of our hands but I have always believed the Croatia match next Wednesday would be the crunch game and I still do."

Having already offered his public support to McClaren in the build-up to this week's momentous events, starting with a largely meaningless friendly with Austria in Vienna tomorrow, Barwick is unlikely to offer anything other than his steadfast support now.

So, discussions between the two men who could be meeting in a far more formal context next Thursday have largely strayed away from the weekend's most important business.

"We had a nice little chat about the week, about business and about certain meetings we have had before," revealed McClaren. "But we have not spoken about my job.

"Qualifying is ultimately my responsibility but I still have confidence in the players to make it."

There have been plenty of experienced football men, former FA technical director Howard Wilkinson among them, who believe that a statement reaffirming McClaren's position should be issued now rather than against a clamour for change which is bound to accompany elimination.

Understandably, it is not a debate McClaren himself is going to get into, although remembering how Bobby Robson guided England to a World Cup quarter-final and semi-final after initially failing to reach the 1984 European Championships is bound to aid his cause.

"My first eight months in the job were very difficult," he said.

"But I genuinely feel we have made great progress in the last six or seven months.

"We had five 3-0 wins, were unlucky to lose in Russia, a minute away from beating Brazil and unlucky to lose against Germany.

"Everybody can see we are playing as a team, which is the most important thing."

Whether McClaren's view of what constitutes 'the most important thing' is the same as the 12-man FA board which will sit in judgement on his reign next week is open to question.

Of course, either Israel or Macedonia could still come to the former Middlesbrough boss' rescue, although in the latter case, it would still require England to record a minimum two-goal win against Croatia at Wembley next Wednesday.

Given unfancied Greece are the current European champions and Peter Schmeichel'sDenmark won the tournament in 1992 despite being hauled off the beach to take Yugoslavia's place in a competition they did not even qualify for, it is not completely beyond the realms of possibility England will somehow scrape through and then ultimately emerge victorious.

That is certainly what McClaren will be hoping for when he sits down in front of the TV with his two sons, watching events unfold in Tel Aviv.

"I have no firm plans for Saturday but I will most probably be at home with my boys, biting my nails hoping the right thing happens," he said.

"We are a very private family and a very ordinary one. There is enough to get on with in life without them bothering too much about me."