Graeme Souness: "We had to give Michael Owen and Scott Parker fitness tests this morning. Unfortunately, Michael did not feel he could manage a game. Yesterday in training he ran into Stephen Taylor and got a dead leg on the outside of his thigh. Fortunately for England, he will be fine. By about Wednesday or Thursday, he should be okay. He had a fitness test today and could not get beyond a jog this morning."
Souness' words will come as a relief to England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who is already without Wayne Rooney due to suspension for the Austria game.
Owen will be assessed by the England medical staff when the squad join up next Tuesday for a game which England have to win to keep alive their automatic qualification hopes. And if Owen is fit, Eriksson will likely switch back to a 4-4-2 formation against Austria, with Crouch emerging as the front-runner to partner the Newcastle striker.