Owen Refused To Talk About Newcastle At Press Conference

Owen: "It is what you need. It can be demoralising being injured if you do not feel like you are getting better or you do not feel like a team needs you.

"You are going to the gym at 9am and no-one else is in the building. It is freezing during the winter and you are standing there in the corner squatting and squatting and doing more squatting.

"It can be quite tough, so every time you get a call, every time your club manager - Glenn Roeder as it was - pokes his head around the door, it just gives you that extra boost. You cling on to anything.

"Steve McClaren was great. He called me up regularly, I saw him a couple of times and I visited the squad a couple of times, and I still felt wanted and important when I was injured, so that was nice.

"Every player evolves with time - I am a different player now to when I was a kid. Alan Shearer is a great example. He used to be really quick, really strong in his running down the channels, and he ended his career being a different type of player.

"It is a tough game and everyone feels the effects. Probably 80% of people go into every single game nursing something and being patched up to get out there. It is a tough game - and it is even tougher when you are in your 30s, I suspect.

"You have got to change your game, but that will happen naturally. I do not think because I have had a knee injury I have got to change. If anything, I am at an age where I can still come back and be stronger."

Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce met striker Michael Owen face-to-face at the England B team hotel on Wednesday evening. Allardyce interrupted his holiday to talk to Owen, whose future on Tyneside has been the topic of intense speculation in recent weeks.

The 27-year-old striker was away in Ireland when Allardyce was unveiled at St James' Park after meeting those members of the squad still around in the north-east, and sent his apologies.

Talk of a get-out clause in his contract has sparked rumours that he could be available for as little as £9million this summer, and with Manchester United and Arsenal among those monitoring his situation, an air of uncertainty surrounds him.

Owen was not answering questions about his situation as he conducted a press conference ahead of the England game on Thursday, and chairman Freddy Shepherd is still awaiting a public declaration of the loyalty he demanded in an outspoken outburst as the rumours of his impending departure surfaced.

 

England B team: Carson, P Neville, King, Dawson, Shorey, Lennon, Barry, Jenas, Bentley, Owen, Smith.