Owen upbeat on injury
Michael Owen has given a positive bulletin on his injury, insisting he is fully recovered.
Michael Owen has given a positive bulletin on his injury and insists he is now fully recovered from the foot problems that had cast a shadow over his World Cup prospects.The striker has yet to play a full 90 minutes since breaking a metatarsal bone at Tottenham in December and reported discomfort after a substitute appearance against Birmingham recently.
With Wayne Rooney currently sidelined by a similar injury, there is concern that England will be without their first-choice frontline when the World Cup kicks off at the start of next month.
However, Owen claims he is now fully recovered from his injury and is now preparing to fine-tune his fitness ahead of the finals.
"I'm feeling fine," he told Sky Sports News. "I've been out for quite a while but I've been training in amongst all that.
"I think it's been well-documented what my problems have been over the last couple of months, but I'm sure it's all fine, strong and knitted-together and everything else, and has been for a while so I'm not concerned about that.
"Mine's been healed and ready to go for some time now, I'm just getting over the in-between bits where you get a bit of discomfort after games and things like that and I'm sure over them as well."
Speaking at a night to honour club-mate Alan Shearer for his ten years of service to Newcastle, Owen also took the time to hail the achievements of his former England colleague and insisted he was not the straight man many perceive him to be.
"He's got such a fantastic record and I'll do well to play to 36!" he continued.
"I'm probably a different kind of striker to Alan, he's never had any pace so he can't lose that! He's been a bit of battering ram all his career, but he's done it for so many years at such a consistent level it's a fantastic achievement.
"Off the pitch he's great, there's quite a few of us that are viewed in a certain way in the media and in the public perception, but there's quite a few who are different to what they seem.
"He seems quite serious, focused on his job and a family man, and he is to some extent, but when the cameras are off he's the biggest prankster there is.
"He's the loudest voice in the dressing room, you can hear his laugh above everyone else and you can have a great night with him."
