Steve Coppell believes his defender Nicky Shorey should not take his England omission to heart, having missed out in midweek.
Joleon Lescott was given the nod over his Reading rival to start in Russia but Royals chief Coppell is confident McClaren still has faith in his man.
Former Wolves defender Lescott has spent part of this season at the heart of Everton's defence, but prior to Leighton Baines' arrival on Merseyside he had been employed at full-back.
And this is why Coppell feels Shorey should not be disappointed, as it was not as though McClaren tried to fit a square peg into a round hole.
Coppell said: "I don't see it that way. For 90 per cent of last season and the majority of this, he (Lescott) has played left-back so I don't think anyone can say he had been moved over.
"I think he sees himself as a centre-half but that was a decision that a manager had to make. Whether it would have made any difference, who knows?
"I can understand Shorsey being frustrated by the decision but a manager lives and dies by those decisions."