LONDON (AP) — England coach Steve McClaren watched two thrilling FA Cup games — and went home furious.He was angry because the games ended in draws. That means up to 14 of his players will be busy with cup replays only days before facing Israel and Andorra in European Championship qualifying games.

With the semi-finals at stake followed by the first FA Cup final to be played at the new Wembley, the players McClaren hopes will get England to Euro 2008 will run the risk of injuries by tackling and fouling each other.

Manchester United must play Middlesbrough again March 19 after the sides drew 2-2 Saturday. Chelsea will go to Tottenham on the same day following their 3-3 tie Sunday. March 19 is the day the England squad is supposed to assemble ahead of the March 24 game against Israel in Tel Aviv.

The late arrivals will be Manchester United’s Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Wes Brown; Middlesbrough’s Stewart Downing; Chelsea’s John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Wayne Bridge; and Tottenham’s Paul Robinson, Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe and Jermaine Jenas.

“It’s fair to say that the way the fixtures have turned out has proved less than ideal,” Football Association spokesman Adrian Bevington said yesterday. “We wanted to give Steve’s preparations every chance, but we are in a unique situation in this country where there is almost no flexibility in the fixture programme.” The rest of Europe laughs at England for its insistence at replaying cup games instead of finishing them on the spot. Penalty spot, that is.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger sparked a debate after his team found itself stuck in a backlog of league and cup games a month ago.

“There is a lot that could be done but nobody manages to do it,” Wenger said after his team’s 0-0 draw with Blackburn on February 17. “They could stop replays in the FA Cup. I would do it, but not everybody would. There is no magical solution because, if you want to cut the fixtures down, you have to sacrifice something. It’s a game we didn’t need.”

Sadly for Wenger, he no longer has that problem. Blackburn won the replay and now he has only Premier League games to concentrate on. The Gunners also lost in the League Cup final to Chelsea and were ousted from the Champions League by PSV Eindhoven.

The Arsenal manager has support for his idea of scrapping replays, however.

“FA Cup matches should be decided in one game,” said Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder, whose team is out of the domestic cups but going strong in the UEFA Cup. “The sport has moved on. There are so many games to be played and I think the match should be decided by penalties if it’s a draw after extra time.”

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, whose team is leading the Premier League and is chasing titles in the Champions League and FA Cup, doesn’t agree.

“You cannot just take replays away,” said Ferguson, who has won 19 titles during his 20 years at Old Trafford. “For some clubs, it is part of their whole existence.” He points out that cash-strapped clubs badly need the revenue from replays.