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Euro 2008: Owen To Pull England Shirt Back On

May 13th, 2007

Steve McLaren gave a huge hint about whether he intends to use Michael Owen in England’s next Euro 2008 qualifier, away to Estonia on June 6th, by naming him in the squad for an England ‘B’ international against Albania at Turfmoor on Friday May 25th. There is a double helping of Euro 2008 action in June with a full fixture list on the 2nd as well as the 6th.

Owen To Pull England Shirt Back On
The England ‘B’ team is a curious arrangement, playing sporadically as a convenient way of nursing full-blooded senior international players back to full fitness, as well as giving those on the periphery of the full team a chance to shine. The game against Albania’s second string provides a perfect chance to ease Owen back into the international fold, after sitting out almost the entire Premiership season recovering from an injury sustained in the 2006 World Cup.

Ledley King will also get a useful run out. The Spurs defender has had an injury blighted season following a decent run in the national side up to and including the World Cup in Germany. McClaren will be keeping tabs on plenty of other players that he may call on to help him out of a difficult qualification corner. England are fourth in Group E, but have played a game more than Russia (3rd) and Croatia (1st). To add to Macca’s problems Wayne Rooney is suspended for the game in Tallinn, while Andy Johnson is ruled out through injury. McClaren will also be praying that none of the England internationals involved in either the FA Cup or Champions League final suffer serious injury.

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