Owen facing six-week wait for second op

Newcastle striker Michael Owen must wait for the swelling in his knee to go down before he undergoes a second bout of surgery.

Owen awoke from the first operation on his knee to find that surgeons had only repaired the cartilage rather than the damage to the cruciate ligament itself, which he ruptured in England’s World Cup clash with Sweden.

He is pencilled in for further surgery under the supervision of knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman in September.

“I’m just hoping the next (operation) can be successful. I have to make sure the knee is in a fit state and the swelling is down,” he told The Sun. “That way I can give myself the best possible chance of having the cruciate operation.

“The plan is to go back out there in six or seven weeks – hopefully, that will be the last I see of America. Maybe then there will be light at the end of the tunnel and I can head for a comeback.”

It is feared Owen could miss virtually the whole of the coming campaign.