Owen coy on England chances

Owen: Focused on United

Michael Owen has admitted he finds it difficult to express his true feelings about England.

Fabio Capello has not played Owen since the friendly with France almost two years ago but the striker's international future remains a major discussion point.

He has a fine goalscoring record for England, while last summer's switch to Manchester United was expected to boost his chances of going to the World Cup.

Owen has previously stated that he is not thinking too much about the subject, although he concedes that he has had to choose his words carefully.

"I've said many times that it's difficult for me to talk about it," he said in The Independent.

"I can't find the right words because, one slip of the tongue and I'm on the back page.

"If I said what I think or how I feel or everything else, I'd only be lying to you."

Happy

Capello has always made it clear that he will only pick players who are performing regularly at club level and Owen has failed to establish himself as a permanent fixture for United, while he suffered a hamstring injury in the Carling Cup final.

But Owen has reiterated this week that he is happy at Old Trafford and would rather be a substitute for United than in the first team of a struggling club.

"I'd like to play a lot more, obviously, but you try getting into the team with Wayne Rooney playing like this!" he said.

"If Wayne hadn't been scoring two or three goals in games, the manager might have rotated more.

"If there had been one or two more injuries, he might have rotated more.

Improve

"But there's no way that I'm unhappy about how things have gone or my decision to come here. I'm absolutely delighted with the way things have gone."

Owen, who scored in Sunday's Carling Cup final, added: "I played for teams that haven't been doing well in the league and I'd prefer to be playing a lesser role.

"Now I'm training every day with real top-quality players.

"I want to improve my game and, when I do play, be involved in games like Sunday."