York-born Steve McClaren has answered England's football chiefs in their hour of need.

The former Nunthorpe School student has been appointed No 2 to caretaker-manager Peter Taylor, with the pair taking charge for the friendly against Italy in Turin on November 15.

Leicester boss Taylor and Manchester United coach McClaren - who is Sir Alex Ferguson's right-hand man at Old Trafford - have initially joined up for the one match.

However, their tenure in charge could last five games if the FA turn to a manager - believed to be one of Arsenal's Arsene Wenger, Lazio's Sven Goran Eriksson and former Blackburn boss Roy Hodgson, who had previously enjoyed success as the Swiss national coach - currently under a strict contract.

But McClaren made it perfectly clear that his obligations at Old Trafford come before the national cause.

"I was delighted to accept for this one game," he said.

"The one concern I and Manchester United have is that if it conflicts in any shape or form with United, United comes first. This is for me a one-off, although I would like it to develop in the future, but not to the detriment of my work with Manchester United."

It's unlikely that McClaren would have even dreamed of being part of the England set-up when he was a schoolboy in York.

He represented the city and Yorkshire, but rather than joining York City, he signed for Hull City.

The midfielder moved to Derby in 1986 for £70,000 and although injury cut his playing career short after spells with Bristol City and Oxford, McClaren quickly established himself as a promising young coach.

He cemented that reputation at Derby before being recruited by Ferguson for Manchester United 21 months ago.

To their credit, the Football Association have acted swiftly to fill the void left by Kevin Keegan after the defeat by Germany earlier this month.

FA chief executive Adam Crozier spoke to Ferguson on Wednesday night, with the Scot deciding it was okay to tell McClaren on Friday, before the Reds' game with Leeds at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Crozier had also spoken to Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd on Friday morning as regards Bobby Robson's availability and the former England manager, like Taylor, was only told of the approach after Saturday's Premiership games.

Meanwhile, Crozier today began the final leg of his search for a permanent coach, with the FA having drawn up a list of three possibilities.

Crozier revealed that he will this week approach the clubs of his three candidates, and the FA are confident of having the new man signed up before Christmas. But even if Crozier succeeds in by then, the likelihood is that man is under contract with a club and not easily released from that by his employers.

As for the temporary measures that were confirmed by the FA yesterday afternoon, there is little doubt Taylor and McClaren are two of the best young coaches around and that Taylor, who remained unbeaten after 18 games in charge of the Under-21s, is being lined up as a future England manager.

His original departure from the England set-up had been widely blamed on technical director Howard Wilkinson, but there appears to be no problem between the two.

"Under my contract I was in sole charge of the Under-21s but after the France game (where Wilkinson was caretaker manager) it changed, so the technical director was in charge," Taylor said.

"It meant I did not have the same freedom. Howard and myself agreed I could not carry on doing the same job and I thought it would be best if I left.

"There is no need for the FA to apologise. They have not done me any harm. It was a football situation. The only thing I would say in Howard's defence is we get on fine. I spoke to him before the Germany game and, if I had been technical director, I would have done exactly the same thing. I understand what he did and it's nothing personal."

Crozier admitted this new phase of "Team England" is an overdue adoption of the French system that helped Aime Jacquet and Roger Lemerre steer France to World Cup and European Championship glory.