Michael Owen not only pleased Big Sam with his first goal for Newcastle since Moses parted the Red Sea, but McClaren at last had some good news, following on from Tuesday when Kieron Dyer was ruled out for nine months.
Newcastle Have Better Options Than England!
McClaren was in the stands at St James' Park checking out Owen and Alan Smith with the vital Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia coming up.
Sam Allardyce: "Steve was here tonight and I don't think there is any question that England have fewer options than I do, don't they? I have four options, they don't have many, do they?
"This is only going to be good for Michael, for Newcastle and for England.
"Fit and well tomorrow and recovered Friday, we will have a look, have a chat and see where we go from there for Saturday for the best and fittest XI to try to beat Wigan before the international break.
"It is not a formality he starts on Saturday, no. I will just have to weigh up the whole situation and use a selection process based on what has been done in the past by everybody and what the situation is going into the game against Wigan.
"Places at this stage cannot be guaranteed for anybody.
"I will see what he is like tomorrow. His level of intensity tonight will be at his highest, probably, since the Germany match, so we will have to see how he feels tomorrow and take it from there.
"We have got four very good strikers - Mark Viduka, Shola Ameobi, Obafemi Martins and Michael Owen - and we will need to use all four of them throughout the season."