Owen fit but England lose Johnson

Michael Owen confirmed his fitness for England's Euro 2008 qualifiers with Newcastle's winner against Everton - but Andrew Johnson has been ruled out.

Owen returned only nine days after groin surgery with the final goal in Newcastle's 3-2 victory.

Johnson scored his first goal for Everton since March in the game, but misses the matches with Estonia and Russia to undergo ankle surgery.

Owen said: "I'm fine. I'm playing without pain and will only get better."

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He added: "It's only a minor thing and I have still got all the stitches in. I've put in a lot of hard work and I was disappointed not to actually start."

England boss Steve McClaren was at St James' Park to watch Owen, but he will be concerned about Johnson's absence as he awaits the results of Dean Ashton's scan on the knee injury sustained at Aston Villa on Saturday.

He did receive one boost, with Frank Lampard playing a full 90 minutes in Chelsea's win at Bolton after recovering from a thigh injury.

Everton boss David Moyes said: "We have nursed AJ along, but now he will have surgery on Monday and will be out for four weeks."

Ashton missed the whole of last season with a broken ankle but he has been in impressive form since returning to action and could have figured with Emile Heskey also ruled out.

His latest injury is a blow to McClaren, whose options up front will be limited if Ashton is absent.

McClaren has already revealed that he may be prepared to rest skipper John Terry against Estonia.

Terry was booked against Israel and another yellow card would put him out of the clash with Russia on 17 October.

"Leaving Terry out would be a massive call," conceded McClaren.

"We must look at the bigger picture. We have a few players on bookings and we have to take that into account."

He will be desperate to lead England out against struggling Estonia but, together with Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole, he is one caution away from a suspension.

"It is a consideration," confirmed McClaren. "I have to ask myself do I want to risk losing someone?

"It means picking a team for Estonia is not an entirely straightforward issue, there are other factors involved as well.

"Clearly though, our priority is to win and avoid dropping points at home as we did against Macedonia. If we do that, what happens in Russia is irrelevant."

Source: BBC Sport