
Michael Owen has told his Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce: DonÂ’t tell me when I can play for England.
The Toon striker, 27, insists he will only listen to German surgeon Dr Ulrike Muschaweck who operated on his groin.
And in another stinging rebuke to the Geordies’ gaffer, Owen declared Allardyce got it wrong about when he got crocked. Allardyce claimed Owen picked it up playing for England last month — but the hitman insists he had it before then.
He said: “I’ll listen to the surgeon and not anyone else because she knows what she is talking about.
“Could I play against Estonia? I don’t see why not. The surgeon tells me nothing can go wrong in terms of the operation.
“I know the manager here said I did it in the last international matches but I was playing in pain even before them.”
Owen scored on his Toon return in the 3-2 win over Everton on Sunday just eight days after under-going surgery in Munich.
And he added: “I’ve been pushing myself through a lot of pain for about six weeks — even before the last two internationals.”
Now the ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid star has declared himself fit for the looming Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia.
But Big Sam has warned England boss Steve McClaren not to send his star back to St JamesÂ’ injured again next week.