Chris Hughton believes that Michael Owen has benefitted from not being called up to Fabio Capello's England squad.
The striker has suffered with a succession of serious injuries during his time at Newcastle but even when fit the Italian seems reluctant to call-up the 29-year-old.
After initially missing out on the original squad for the games against Slovakia and Ukraine, Owen received a stinging snub when, after injuries to Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole and Peter Crouch on Saturday, Capello opted to call-up Darren Bent.
But having only started once in the past six weeks, due to an ankle injury, temporary Magpies boss Hughton is confident Owen can use the two week international break to regain his fitness.
"Michael has benefitted from the two week break, and it's been a real bonus for us that he's been able to work with us at the training ground," he said.
"And what helps during the international break is that the group is a little smaller and you are able to concentrate a little bit more on each player.
"Michael is focused on getting on with the job in hand. He is just back from six weeks out through injury and Michael will want to get back to his full fitness levels.
"He has been concentrating on doing the best he can because it's the tough end of the season now and it's all about what part he can play."
Hughton also received good news over winger Damien Duff. The 30-year-old was forced to withdraw from the Republic of Ireland squad last week after tearing a hamstring.
But after assessing the injury it has been revealed that the problem will not keep the former Blackburn and Chelsea ace out long-term and he could even recover in time to figure at the weekend.
"When the injury was assessed at the time, it was felt it could be anything from a seven to a 10-day injury," he told the club's official website.
"But that is the good news because even if he doesn't make Chelsea, then it's not a long-term injury.
"But he has a chance of making the game and we will continue to assess him on a day-by-day basis."
0 comments:
Post a Comment