Steve McClaren promised straight-talking and he did not hold back as he delivered a brutally honest assessment of England's performance against Macedonia.

McClaren was angrier with the performance than the 0-0 scoreline.

He accused his players of poor passing, poor crossing and poor finishing and demanded an instant improvement in Croatia on Wednesday.

He said: "I think there was enough effort but there wasn't our usual quality.

"Our passing wasn't as fluid. Our final ball wasn't there or the finish. We failed to score.

"I always go on performance and it was a disappointing performance and a frustrating one and I didn't need to tell the players.

"You could see that in their faces and in their eyes. They knew it."

McClaren was also ready to concede Wayne Rooney was having problems finding his form after six months of injuries and suspensions.

The Manchester United star had one shot saved by Macedonia's excellent keeper Jane Nikolovski, in the second half, but was subdued at Old Trafford.

He was taken off as England pressed for a winner and replaced by Jermain Defoe 15 minutes from time.

McClaren said: "Nobody is more frustrated than Wayne Rooney. He is below his usual performances, everybody can see that, but Wayne's got the resilience and the character we have to show as a team."

Rooney's last goal in a competitive England game came against Croatia in the group stage of Euro 2004 in Portugal.

But McClaren insists Rooney is an automatic choice as long as he is fit but has told all his players to deliver more in Zagreb and get the qualification campaign on track.

Defeat in Croatia would pile pressure on the England boss after only five games at the helm and with five months to wait before the next qualifier, away to Israel in March.

McClaren said: "I expect a better performance. I've always said if you win you home games and get a point away against the better teams, then you will qualify.

"We've done four points from Macedonia and they've shown that they're not a bad side.

"We have a game in four days. We've got to make sure we're better against Croatia."

Steven Gerrard is banned from the Croatia game after receiving his second yellow card in two games against Macedonia.

It leaves McClaren short of options and experience in midfield, where he is already without injured duo Owen Hargreaves and Joe Cole.

Rio Ferdinand hopes to be fit to return in defence after a back spasm ruled him out of the Macedonia game and that could mean a switch into midfield for Ledley King.

McClaren said: ``We picked a squad for the two games and anything could

happen. It's too early to make a decision on anything but we'll look at that

situation.''

The squad will regroup, train on Monday and fly to Zagreb on Tuesday.

McClaren said: "Croatia is always a tough place to play. The atmosphere will

be tremendous. They have extremely passionate fans and it is going to be a big test for us.''

Croatia have been managed by former Everton and West Ham defender Slaven Bilic since July and are notoriously hard to beat on home turf.

They finished top of their qualifying group for this year's World Cup, ahead of Sweden, Bulgaria and Hungary and opened their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with a 0-0 draw in Russia.