Owen Declared Fit After Scan
Newcastle and England striker Michael Owen has passed a precautionary scan after being pulled out of training on Monday and has been declared fully fit.
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is expected use Owen as the lone forward and drop Peter Crouch, with Steven Gerrard in an advanced midfield role and Jamie Carragher as a holding midfielder.
The Swede has said he will select his best available team for the friendly against Hungary.
The game is England’s penultimate game before the World Cup and Eriksson has hinted at using the encounter at Old Trafford as an experiment by moving away from a 4-4-2 formation.
Eriksson said: “It’s a good opportunity for them to play 90 minutes and it will be what I think is the strongest team.”
Hungary include two British-based players, West Brom’s Zoltan Gera and Crystal Palace keeper Gabor Kiraly, in their squad.
Eriksson has been unflinching in his insistence that he would start against Hungary with his best team.
But, for the first time, he hinted this might not involve his tried-and-trusted 4-4-2 formation, with Crouch partnering Owen up front.
Eriksson added: “We have decided exactly what to do but I’m not going to tell you until Tuesday.”
Asked whether it was a good chance for Crouch and Owen to work on their partnership, he stated: “There’s a lot of work to do, of course. I’m not talking about those two but in general.”
“We have the game against Hungary and the game on Saturday against Jamaica. The two matches are very important to us.”
Eriksson’s most obvious alternative is to pack his midfield and play Owen as a lone striker.
This would give Gerrard and Frank Lampard the freedom to get forward from midfield and maximise their goal threat.
Lampard, who will return to action for the first time since 2 May, said: “I had a nice week off when I had the chance to forget about football, which is quite difficult for me.”
“I’ve come back hungry and it was nice to start training again. It felt a little bit fresh and bit like pre-season but that’s great because it means you are raring to go.”
“I hope my peak is still to come. It would be a great time to peak in a World Cup.”
Lampard’s Chelsea team-mate John Terry is set to play his first game in more than a month after missing the end of the domestic season with an ankle injury.