Austria’s Martin Stranzl battles it out with England scorer Peter Crouch during Friday’s friendly in Vienna. (Reuters)

England’s journey through the dark ages under Steve McClaren entered the ice age on the snowy banks of the Danube on Friday night. As fans shivered in the teeth of sub-zero temperatures and below-par football, England eked out a narrow friendly win through Peter Crouch’s first-half header.

Victory against average opponents came at a cruel cost: Michael Owen strained a thigh muscle and is out for a month. Newcastle United will feel the loss badly, particularly with pending tests against Liverpool and Arsenal, but the most significant engagement that Owen will miss is England’s Euro 2008 qualifier with Croatia at Wembley next week.

If Russia slip up in Israel, England can still reach next summer’s Alpine jamboree by defeating Slaven Bilic’s side on Wednesday but their cutting edge has been blunted beyond recognition. No Owen, no Wayne Rooney. No chance? Injuries bedevil England at the most inopportune moment.

“It was a strange one,” McClaren said. “It was his standing foot and he pulled his thigh. It leaves us short for strikers. We seem to be plagued with injuries. Wayne Rooney gets an ankle injury playing head tennis.

“We’ll be going into our biggest game for some while without our two first-choice centre-forwards and two first-choice centre-backs (Rio Ferdinand and John Terry). There’s a possibility we’ll call a striker into the squad, but I think there’s enough in that dressing room to get through this game.”

Crouch’s form gives reason for some hope and his 13th international goal from a David Beckham corner was expertly taken. A threat at set-pieces, Beckham looked far from match fit and was replaced by the lively David Bentley after an hour.

Although unbreached, defence remains a concern. Joleon Lescott hardly exuded confidence at centre-half, and one fears for England if Eduardo builds up steam at Wembley. At least Scott Carson looked sound in goal, though Austria rarely shot straight. Croatia will be far more daunting opponents.

McClaren had been determined that some good should come out of last night and he was particularly keen for Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard to develop some understanding before Croatia’s visit.

Austria were bemused by McClaren’s decision to use two attacking midfielders in harness. “I was surprised by the formation of playing Lampard and Gerrard in central midfield, without any holding player,” said the Austrian coach, Josef Hickersberger, “but our players were unable to make use of this risky selection.”

Gerrard anchored for the first half, which inevitably tempers his buccaneering edge, while McClaren hailed Lampard as the man of the match when Austria’s captain, Andreas Ivanschitz, was comfortably the most impressive performer on view.

Many left well before the end, some to catch flights from Bratislava and others simply to find a late-night beer. McClaren refuted the allegation that England supporters were disenchanted. “They voted with their feet by turning up, 4,000 of them,” he said.

For all the initial lack of cohesion on the pitch, England’s fans were in good heart, the 4,600 visitors comfortably outsinging a local crowd 10 times their number. Beckham tried to give them something to sing about, drilling in some crosses to Crouch.

One express Beckham delivery almost found Crouch. The Liverpool striker was certainly found by Austria’s keeper, Jurgen Macho, who clattered into him. Crouch collapsed to the cold ground like a poplar being felled by a slightly careless lumberjack.