Owen Keeps PR Ticking Over - Backing Beckham

"He was not around the Madrid team for a couple of the months during the season and the manager said he might not play for the club again.

"But he has come back and produced some fantastic performances in recent weeks and been in great form. He certainly deserves his recall to the England squad."

Owen has had to suffer in silence as England's woeful qualifying campaign unfolded, culminating in the fearful abuse McClaren suffered at the hands of his own fans in Barcelona as his team struggled to overcome the part-timers of Andorra in March.

Owen: "I felt for Steve and the players that night. It was almost an accumulation of things. A lot of people went into the game frustrated because we had not played too well in the games leading up to that.

"Everyone was poised really to let their frustrations go and, with things not going as planned on the night, tempers started to fray.

"It has not quite happened for us in a couple of games so far but we are still in a position where we can qualify.

"We have got plenty of home games to come and if we can win in Estonia, things will look a lot rosier for us.

"Brazil are fantastic opponents and you could have no-one better to play against in the opening game at Wembley. But, if someone said we were going to lose tomorrow and win on Wednesday, I would take that right now.

"In Tallinn, we will experience a hostile atmosphere against a team that will not just pull 11 men behind the ball, but 11 men into their final third.

"If you don't score early in matches like that, everyone can get a bit twitchy.

"But the fact is their players are not as good as ours. If we can get the first goal, I am sure we will have a good night."