Owen set to miss England matches

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce has ruled Michael Owen out of England's two Euro 2008 qualifiers in October.

Allardyce said Owen has a 3cm tear in his abductor muscle and will see a specialist on Thursday to see whether he also needs a hernia operation.

"It will be three weeks out and he would miss England with his groin," said Allardyce.

"We might as well check up whether he needs a hernia op or not while he is out with his abductor tear."

England face crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia on 13 and 17 October.

Owen, 27, netted three times in September's qualifying victories over Israel and Russia after missing the majority of the 2006-07 campaign because of a cruciate ligament injury suffered at the 2006 World Cup finals.

He limped out of Newcastle's match on Sunday and was also substituted during the Magpies previous game, a 1-0 defeat at Derby on Monday 17 September.

A hernia operation could rule him out of action for two months.

England boss Steve McClaren is already without Emile Heskey, who partnered Owen up front for both those wins, after the Wigan striker suffered a broken metatarsal on 15 September.

Joe Cole is also suspended for the Estonia game, although Wayne Rooney is available.

After Sunday's defeat of West Ham, Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce said: "I am worried that he asked to come off against West Ham because he felt it, whereas it was me who took him off against Derby."

Owen had a scan after the game against Derby - after which Allardyce claimed the striker did not need an ankle operation.

However, after Sunday's game Allardyce added: "Even though the initial scan was clear, there's a persistent area which is causing him a problem.

"We need to look deeper into that."

"We will scan it again, get a specialist opinion and see where we go from there."

Source: BBC Sport