After a slog of a season, spent sweating in the gym rather than scoring goals, Michael Owen is due to resume full first-team training with Newcastle United within the next 12 days. As he accelerates his comeback from knee surgery, the England striker may now feasibly play some part in his clubÂ’s Barclays Premiership game at home to Chelsea on Sunday, April 22.Owen, 27, has not kicked a ball in anger since severely damaging his anterior cruciate ligaments in the fourth minute of his countryÂ’s 2-2 World Cup finals draw with Sweden last June. Yet he is now a regular participant in NewcastleÂ’s warm-up sessions at their Longbenton training centre, before continuing his rehabilitation and undertaking shooting practice.
While Glenn Roeder will put no public timeframe on Owen’s return to the Newcastle side, the manager is enthused by what he has witnessed on the training ground. “Michael is now joining us in our football warm-up for the first time since he was injured last June,” he said. “He is now taking part in 30 minutes of football with us every day.
“After that, when the intensity increases, he goes off to continue his work with our rehab coach John Green who, as he did with Kieron Dyer, has done a fantastic job with Owen. I watched as Michael was striking the ball into an empty net yesterday and, believe me, it was great to see. “By a week on Monday, Michael Owen will be back in full training with us and he will be treated no differently than any other player in our first-team squad.”
That schedule would allow him nearly two weeks of training before Chelsea arrive at St James’ Park and a possible place on the substitutes’ bench. It would also increase the chances of Owen starting for England in their European Championship qualifying match in Estonia on June 6. Earlier this week, Freddy Shepherd, the Newcastle chairman, insisted that Owen “will not be rushed back just so that he can play for England in the summer.”
