Steve Mcclaren was given special permission from Sven-Goran Eriksson to leave the England camp in order to wrap-up three transfers for Middlesbrough.

McClaren has come under fire for leaving Boro at the bottom of the table as he dashed off to help the World Cup cause. But he proved he could do both jobs by driving up and down the motorway in a remarkable 24 hours starting on Wednesday afternoon.

He headed for The Riverside to sign the Scotland winger Allan Johnston from Rangers for around £1m and then set up the loan deal that will see the South African striker Benni McCarthy arrive from Celta Vigo for the rest of the season.

Before the night was over McClaren saw his reserves draw with Manchester United and found time to negotiate with Sturm Graz's Austrian striker Markus Schopp, who is on a four-day trial, before returning to the England camp.