Owen set to resume training on Tuesday

Manchester United striker Michael Owen will return to full training on Tuesday after missing his side's draw with Sunderland on Saturday.

Owen was forced off during last week's Champions League victory over Wolfsburg after suffering a groin injury and didn't recover in time for the Sunderland clash.

But, although it was initially feared the former Liverpool star would be out for three weeks, he is now ready to return to action.

"I'm back in full training from tomorrow (Tuesday)," Owen told At The Races on Monday. "The older you get the more you get to learn your body.

"Probably a few years ago I would have carried on playing and pulled something and been out for a couple of months or a few weeks at least.

"I felt something coming. If I'd continued or done another sprint then I think I would have pulled my groin.

"So I came off just before it happened and instead of three or four weeks it's three or four days. So that's something you get with experience."


Meanwhile, Owen, who has 89 caps and 40 goals for England, has not given up hope of making Fabio Capello's 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Owen has yet to feature for Capello and was left out of the Italian's squad for England's final World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Belarus.

"We'll see about that," he replied when asked about featuring in next year's finals.

"Every aim for an English footballer is to go to the World Cup and get in that squad.

"I've got six or seven months to do as well as possible for Manchester United and hopefully Fabio Capello will be watching."