Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 896 Mon. December 04, 2006  
   
Sports


Owen hopeful of swift return


Injured England striker Michael Owen hopes to be back playing for his club Newcastle United before the end of the season.

Owen suffered a cruciate ligament injury during a World Cup match against Sweden in June and has since had two operations on his knee.

"I'm confident that I can play again this season. It'll be great if I could," Owen told BBC radio on Sunday.

"I have a scan at the turn of the year and as long as everything's knitted together quite nicely we'll press on. Hopefully, I can start jogging in early February and then we'll really kick on from that.

"It's been a long slog so far and there's still quite a lot of work to be done till I'm back out playing but I've got other things that are keeping me occupied and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now," added the 26-year-old former Liverpool and Real Madrid player.