London, May 2:

England is likely to name its new soccer coach this week, and Middlesbrough’s Steve McClaren is expected to get the job.

After Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari turned England down last week, the Football Association appears certain to appoint a British coach to replace Sven-Goran Eriksson after the World Cup.

McClaren, who has guided Middlesbrough to its first European cup final, is the odd-on favourite with bookmakers at 1-6.

Other candidates include Bolton’s Sam Allardyce (5-1), free agent Martin O’Neill (12-1) and Charlton’s Alan Curbishley (16-1).

The FA Board is due to meet on Thursday, and there is strong speculation that the three-men panel will announce its decision then.

“I’m not commenting on that,” McClaren said. “My job is to focus on Middlesbrough and get the club results. I’m looking forward to it (England coach situation) being settled one way or the other,” he added.

McClaren, who is Eriksson’s assistant and was No 2 to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, received an endorsement from the Red Devils manager. “Steve is well qualified for the job, as quite a few others are, but I think the thing in his favor is that he also has the knowledge of the England camp because he has been in the camp for a few years now,” Ferguson said.

The three-month search to find a replacement for Eriksson, who is stepping down after five years in the job, has been troublesome for the FA.

O’Neill, who left his job at Glasgow Celtic a year ago to be with his sick wife, was the initial strong favourite for the job along with PSV Eindhoven’s Guus Hiddink, who is taking charge of Russia instead.

McClaren seemed to slide out of contention after some poor English Premier league results, including a 7-0 loss at Arsenal and 4-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa, left ’Boro close to relegation trouble. But the team climbed up the table and reached the FA Cup semi-final, as well as the May 10 UEFA Cup final against Sevilla in Eindhoven.