Owen facing fitness battle

Striker Michael Owen was today facing a battle to prove his form and fitness as the pressure grew on his starting place for England’s World Cup qualifier against Wales.

Eriksson will have been relieved to see that Owen was given his second start for Real Madrid last night in their La Liga clash with Deportivo La Coruna.

However, the former Liverpool striker was hauled off after just 52 minutes after struggling to make any real impact in a 1-0 defeat.

And just to make matters worse, it was later revealed that Owen has an injury worry ahead of this Saturday’s game at Old Trafford.

Real coach Mariano Garcia Remon revealed: “At half-time, the doctors said that he had a slight muscle problem.

“So rather than forcing it, we thought it was best to rest him and put on Fernando Morientes.”

Owen had earlier snatched at a couple of first-half chances, volleying wide from inside the penalty area and then miskicking on the edge of the six-yard box.

Given the concerns over his fitness, however, he will now be assessed by the England medical staff when he reports for duty tomorrow ahead of the squad’s first training session together.

And unless he manages to prove his fitness quickly, Jermain Defoe, his main rival to partner Wayne Rooney, could seize a head-start in the race to start Saturday’s game.

Eriksson has already confirmed Rooney will start at his new Old Trafford home ground, admitting that “it would be difficult to keep him out“.

He has also shown with his decisions to drop David James and Alan Smith in Poland last month that he is not afraid to act decisively if the need arises.

The England coach admitted: “Michael Owen said a couple of days ago that he is concerned. I’m his manager for England and so I’m concerned as well.

“But I will talk to him to see how he’s training and how his form is.

“We know that Michael Owen is a big goalscorer. He’s always been that for Liverpool and England, and hopefully he will be for Real Madrid as well.”

Owen’s big-game experience, with 27 goals in 63 caps, is an advantage, although Eriksson has noted how much Defoe, who scored his first England goal in Poland last month, has developed recently.

“He’s taken his chance. He’s doing really well for Tottenham and has done very well every time he’s played for England too,” Eriksson told Sky Sports.

“He’s a natural goalscorer, with pace and good technique and, even though he’s not a tall man, he’s very strong.”

As well as revealing the identity of Rooney’s strike partner, Eriksson must also resolve whether to recall Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell.

Both central defenders were back in the 23-man squad named last night, along with Rooney and Phil Neville, who earned his first call-up of the season despite his lack of involvement at club level.

Eriksson was nevertheless short of defensive and midfield alternatives in the absence of Steven Gerrard, Wayne Bridge and Kieron Dyer through injury.

Bridge is missing with a calf injury, although his fitness will be reassessed on Thursday or Friday to see if he can make the trip to Azerbaijan for next Wednesday’s back-to-back qualifier.

Joe Cole is the most obvious candidate to start on the left flank, especially after scoring for Chelsea yesterday.

However, he earned a post-match rebuke from Jose Mourinho for his lack of defensive application after scoring and Eriksson could always turn to Owen Hargreaves as a more solid alternative.

Eriksson concluded: “This is more or less a local derby and Wales need to beat England badly. We must understand that as England are the big brothers and you always want to beat the big brothers.”