Owen happy to be skipper's temp

Michael Owen admits he will only be looking after the captain's armband against Poland.

Michael Owen admits he will only be looking after the captain's armband for England's World Cup qualifier against Poland on Wednesday.

The Newcastle United striker has been named as skipper for the game, with David Beckham suspended after his sending off against Austria.

Owen is the regular understudy to his former Real Madrid team-mate and is relishing the chance to captain his country again.

"It's always a privilege to lead the boys out," said Owen.

"Obviously it's David's job on a regular basis and he does a fantastic job of that.

"When he's not there, the manager's recently handed that over to me. I just see it as keeping it warm for David.

"I look around at John Terry, Frank Lampard, Rio [Ferdinand] and players like that to give a helping hand and lead in the best way possible."

With Owen filling in for Beckham when the midfielder is unavailable, it would appear he is in pole position to replace his colleague as the long-term captain of England.

But, while reiterating his pride at leading out the England side, it is not an issue which occupies his thoughts.

He added: "I don't really give it much thought. Don't get me wrong, to captain your country is an unbelievable feeling, but I don't lose sleep on being the next captain when David retires in many, many years.

"The main thing for me is going out and concentrating on my game and everything else."

Following a generally lacklustre qualifying campaign, which has seen England reach the finals with a game to spare, Owen accepts there is a duty for the team to produce a quality performance against Poland at Old Trafford.

"Now we've qualified, instead of the victory being 99 percent and the performance one percent, I would say the performance has gained a few extra percentages," he continued.

"We are really desperate to put on a good show. We haven't played well for the full 90 minutes for a long time now.

"The last game was a step in the right direction but we would like a good performance to lift the doom and gloom, even though we've qualified."

Though England have not shown anything to suggest they can trouble the international luminaries at the World Cup, Owen remains convinced The Three Lions can match the likes of Argentina and Brazil.

Owen added: "There's no getting away from it, we haven't performed to our peak all the way through the campaign.

"I can assure you one thing, it will be a different team if we step out against Argentina or Brazil. It will be a different team, regardless of confidence or anything."

Meanwhile, Beckham will not be able to watch his team-mates against Poland after being recalled to training by Real Madrid.

Real are keen to have Beckham back in Spain so that they can prepare for this weekend's Madrid derby with Atletico Madrid.

"We have received a formal request from Real Madrid advising us they require David Beckham to travel back to Spain for training tomorrow," the Football Association said in a statement.

England 8/15 Draw 5/2 Poland 9/2 - Click here for full odds with Sky Bet