McClaren cracks after Gerrard double fails to silence the boos

An evening of personal hell for Steve McClaren came to a dramatic end last night when the England manager stormed out of his post-match press conference after delivering an emotional defence of his regime. His team laboured to a 3-0 victory over the puny Andorra team against a backdrop of unremitting hostility towards McClaren and constant calls for him to be sacked.

"Still want McClaren out," was the chant that rang down even after a victory that capped an appalling evening for the England manager. Before the game McClaren denied suggestions that he had dropped Frank Lampard for the match - the official line was that the Chelsea man's broken wrist was causing him pain even though he took a full part in training on Tuesday after picking up the injury on Monday. It would seem that he was indeed to be dropped in favour of a central midfield partnership of Steven Gerrard and Owen Hargreaves.

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They may have paid their money to watch but it was impossible not to feel that the level of abuse directed at McClaren last night was unpleasant, unjustified and completely out of proportion. With the game goalless at half-time the jeers of the crowd reached their height before two goals from Steven Gerrard, and a 90th-minute strike on his debut from David Nugent, decided the game. Israel's victory over Estonia moves them ahead of England, who are now fourth in Euro 2008 qualifying Group E.

The signs are that McClaren may be beginning to crack under the strain of a job that he is only nine games and seven months into. His press conference lasted one minute 55 seconds, taking just two questions, before he appeared to make a spontaneous decision to leave before emotions got the better of him. "Gentlemen, you can write whatever you want to write," he concluded.

"We came here to win the game and it was important to do that," he said. "Yes, it was difficult conditions both on and off the field, the players came through and I am very proud of them. I said at half-time, 'You have to show guts and character to come through this'. And they did that. Each and every one.

"Stevie G really stepped forward tonight and we have won the game. We move on. That puts us in a better position in the group. We have to beat Estonia. The run in is down to us, it's in our hands. The players know that. I got fantastic support from the players, the staff and everyone involved. There's a great determination to do the job."

Asked how he felt at half-time, McClaren said: "There's no concern for me. It was very, very difficult for the players. We said at half-time that we have to stand together and show guts and character. I said that I was proud of them, quite a few of them grew up tonight.

"Nothing concerns me about what you write and people say, what matters is inside. There is a great determination to prove people wrong. Gentlemen, you can write whatever you want to write and that's all I am going to say."

John Terry, the captain, criticised the England supporters for turning on the players. "During the game it wasn't nice for the players," he said. "The fans are entitled to their opinion but for the players' sake and England it would be better if they waited until the end of the game. The boos and McClaren shouts are not helping. The players have taken responsibility for under-achieving in recent games."

Gerrard said that the first 45 minutes were "the most difficult I have played for England". He added: "The fans expected six points from the two games, there's been a lot of pressure. Of course, you can hear it but we had to show a lot of character after half-time. It's not as easy as going out and running over teams but eventually we did. It is not draining but it was difficult."

The Andorra coach, David Rodrigo, said: "We are a limited team of mostly amateurs but apart from Gerrard and Lennon I think we controlled their players and they did not give us any problems at all."