Hargreaves backing McClaren

England international Owen Hargreaves has given his backing to Steve McClaren.

McClaren felt the heat from England fans on Wednesday after receiving some early barracking in Barcelona after taking 54 minutes to break down the international minnows.

Despite being held to a goalless draw at half-time Bayern Munich ace Hargreaves believes the former Middlesbrough boss guided his troops to the crucial win.

"The manager did a great job at half-time," explained Hargreaves. "He found the right words to motivate the team and make sure we did a great job in winning the game.

"He found the right message to get the lads going. He said 'keep going, we will get goals and create chances.' and he was very positive.

"That's what we needed to hear from him and we responded in the right way and did a very good job in the second half. Should he stay? Definitely."

Hargreaves was critical of Andorra's style of play in the Euro 2008 qualifier and felt referee Bruno Paixao did not offer enough protection to the players.

"The first half was frustrating," he continued. "We tried to set out to score goals and put them under pressure and we didn't do a great job on them.

"They didn't really come to play and just defended. In the second half we moved the ball quickly and created chances and just a shame we couldn't score more goals.

"In the second half we kept our cool and even in the conditions - and despite some of the tackles they put in - we did the job we needed.

"Some of the challenges were shocking and I don't think the referee protected the players enough at times. I told him numerous times.

"People could have got injured. You don't want to see that and it was a shame something like that could happen at this level."