Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick has insisted Steve McClaren will not be sacked if England lose their Euro 2008 Group E qualifier with Israel.

The view is not shared by Rio Ferdinand's influential agent Pini Zahavi, nor McClaren's many sceptics.

Either way, after seeing all the talk of a bright new dawn under his command squashed flat by a run of four games without a victory, McClaren knows his team need to start convincing a demanding public of its ability.

And, on the eve of England's first competitive outing in Tel Aviv, McClaren has challenged his underperforming players to do just that.

"It isn't as if we don't know what is expected," he said.

"Everybody has pointed it out and we have talked about it a lot. But you can talk until the cows come home. Now the talking has to stop. It is time we delivered an England performance."

In fairness to McClaren, the disenchantment began in Germany last summer, where England managed to reach the quarter-finals under Sven-Goran Eriksson despite totally failing to perform anywhere close to the standard the Swede promised when he declared his intention to emulate the 1966 World Cup-winning heroes.

Consistent praise of talented players is now beginning to wear a bit thin and, for the 3,500 supporters who have jetted out to watch the Three Lions in person, and millions more at home, McClaren knows England need to start repaying a rather large debt.

He said: "We have 3,500 fans with us here and millions more back home who have great pride in England. They are the most important people. We owe them and we need to inspire them."

England currently lie third in Group E, outside the two qualifying spots for next summer's finals in Austria and Switzerland.

Yet strangely, McClaren has almost been more relaxed in the build-up to the confrontation with an Israeli side who have lost just once on home soil in seven years than at any other point in his short time in charge.

McClaren felt sufficiently at ease, both in his surroundings and his mind, to take an early morning stroll along the beach. And at no time did he think of failure.

"I am not contemplating defeat and I am not giving a judgement on myself," he said.

"You can look at the bigger picture at other times. At the present moment it is about tonight - and we are here to win."

McClaren can take heart from the return of Owen Hargreaves, who featured in the first three games of the coach's reign - when England won, but not the past four - when they didn't.

Hargreaves' presence as a midfield anchor will allow Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard to get forward without worrying too much about defensive responsibilities, while, on his first international start, Aaron Lennon will provide extreme pace on the left.

Everton's Andrew Johnson will do the same alongside Wayne Rooney in attack, while the good news from England's final training session was the appearance of Micah Richards for the first time this week.

It would be a tough ask of the Manchester City teenager to step into the international arena for only the third time after such a short preparation.

However, it is not totally beyond the realms of possibility Richards will be handed the right-back role ahead of Phil Neville, leaving prospective left-back Jamie Carragher as the only player to start in a different one to the position he occupies at club level.

It is the problem of getting his players to produce performances for their country as they do so often for their clubs which is vexing McClaren the most.

The former Middlesbrough manager hopes a switch back to the English orthodox 4-4-2 system will make it easier for his team to understand their roles and give them the best chance of ensuring the relaxed aura remains for Sunday's flight to Barcelona, where his team complete their double-header against Andorra.

"It is difficult being an international player," he said.

"You have two agendas and switching between them can be difficult.

"But we are into qualifiers now. The players know the importance of this game.

"This is where they will be judged. Their performance needs to be as good for England as it is for their clubs."