Bent called up for Croatia clash

LONDON, England -- Tottenham Hotspur striker Darren Bent has been called up by England as a replacement for injured Michael Owen for Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifying decider against Croatia at Wembley.

Owen suffered a thigh injury in England's 1-0 friendly match victory in Austria on Friday and is once again on the sidelines.

Better news for England coach Steve McClaren was that midfielder Owen Hargreaves has recovered from the tendonitis which kept him out of the game with Austria.

The lack of Owen, on top of the absence of Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, has left England short of top-line strikers and provided an opening for Bent, who joined Tottenham from Charlton for a club record £16.5 million ($33.9 million) in the summer.

England are also without captain John Terry, who has a knee injury, and his fellow centre-back Rio Ferdinand, who is suspended.

Coach McClaren must also decide how to organize his midfield, with Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry and Hargreaves all in contention.

Barry has been an impressive replacement in Lampard's absence through injury but the Chelsea man was picked for Friday's outing.

With England needing just a point to qualify for next summer's finals, McClaren could put them emphasis on stopping the opposition and plump for Hargreaves.

But at a press conference the coach said: "It's not in England's nature to go and play for a draw. We are there, we are in the driving seat. It's up to us to make sure we finish the job off.

"Whatever the formation is going to be, we have to be positive and go out to win the game."

"That is what we have been doing in the second half of the campaign. It has got us results and we must continue that.

"That's how we're going to get a result on Wednesday."

McClaren agreed that failure to qualify from this position would be completely unacceptable.

"There is no way we can contemplate that. This is the last game and there are no excuses," he said.

"We have got ourselves in this position and we have to get the job done."

"I have always believed it would come down to the Croatia game,"

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