Sam Allardyce: "Let's face it, the poor lad gets slaughtered for the slightest slip-up, so I'm really pleased he can go into this particular break and feel very, very satisfied with what he has achieved.
McClaren Gets Backing From Big Sam
"That's not the players, that's Steve McClaren and his backroom staff, I am really, really pleased for them.
"And I am pleased for the players because they are really good players, but they have massive amounts of pressure heaped upon them from the media point of view, and I think that is one of the reasons why they under-achieve sometimes.
"But now, they are right there and they are in a great position. They have had two great wins at Wembley, so they have put that behind them now with two very, very comfortable performances.
"A lot of injured players were not available for that squad and it was a real bonus for Steve, the Emile Heskey performance and Gareth Barry, who have not been there for some time.
"It's always nice to see players like that come in and do exceptionally well."