Defoe believes that if he continues to play well for club and country he should stay ahead of Owen in the England pecking order.
Owen was left out of the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus.
Defoe: "I just want to keep improving. I'm playing in a good team at club level and am going to get chances to score goals. I believe that if I get chances, I'll score."I always work hard in training and just want to keep it going and going. If I'm doing what I'm doing then hopefully, I would back myself to keep Michael out.
"I cannot afford to get complacent. You have to do it for the whole season.
"It's a good feeling to get in ahead of Michael. He's a player I have always looked up to. He's a great goalscorer with a record that speaks for itself.
"I just want to look at myself though, work hard and keep getting my goals."
ENGLAND 5 KAZAKHSTAN 1
ENGLAND: James, Brown, Cole, Ferdinand, Upson, Gerrard, Barry (Wright-Phillips 45), Lampard, Walcott (Beckham 79), Heskey, Rooney (Defoe 86).
Subs Not Used: Carson, Johnson, Bridge, Crouch.
England ultimately ended up with more than an adequate margin of victory against Kazakhstan to maintain a 100% record in World Cup qualifying Group Six.
But the scoreline should deceive no-one.
England were at times dreadfully poor and manager Fabio Capello will be alarmed how quickly the spark which so electrified their 4-1 win in Croatia last month disappeared.
Still, a win is a win, so the professionals say. And when the final table is compiled in 12 months' time, three points and five goals at home will not look so bad.
Yet it took Wayne Rooney's late double and Jermain Defoe's injury-time effort to eventually kill off spirited opponents ranked 131st in the world after Kazakhstan had rallied from a breakthrough header by stand-in skipper Rio Ferdinand and an Alexandr Kuchma own goal.