Kevin Keegan has backed Michael Owen to reclaim his place in the England side.
Magpies boss backs striker to reach 100 caps
Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan has backed Michael Owen to reclaim his place in the England side.
Fabio Capello chose not to play Owen in his first game in charge as England boss against Switzerland on Wednesday.
Owen has been virtually an automatic choice for successive England managers for the last 10 years.
However, the 28-year-old striker has struggled for form of late, scoring just twice in his last 13 Newcastle appearances.
But Keegan is positive Owen will soon recapture his previously excellent form, and comfortably reach 100 caps for his country.
Disappointed
"Michael probably publicly will say, 'New manager, these things happen'. But privately, he will be disappointed because he has lost the chance to get his 89th cap," he said.
"He is going to get 100 caps for England, which was the other big talking point with David Beckham.
"He has got 40 goals in that time. He is a trail-blazer as far as goalscoring goes for England.
"Yes, he will be disappointed, but Michael is very mature and he is a realist. He knows he is probably not going to play every game, and at the start of a new regime managers will want to look at the whole squad.
"He will know Michael and he won't have known some of the others as well so maybe he used that opportunity to look at them."
Keegan went on to highlight the importance of Owen performing on a regular basis for The Magpies.
Cream rises
"Your form for your club does make a difference, but with people like Michael Owen, his record is there," he continued.
"You know if he is fit and he is scoring goals for his club, he is going to take that into the international arena because he has done it 40 times already.
"I always believe in football, the cream always rises to the top, so Michael will be back.
"The best way for him to take advantage of that is to try to just let the manager know he is here and he is playing well - which he is - and he is scoring goals."
