Fabio Capello has hinted that he will leave Michael Owen out of his England squad for upcoming matches against Kazakhstan and Belarus.However, despite scoring five goals in seven games this season, it seems Owen will still be overlooked for next week's second batch of qualifiers.
The prolific forward was not missed in the opening two games as England overcame Andorra and ran riot in Croatia so punters looking to use their £25 free bet might still fancy them to comfortably overcome Kazakhstan at Wembley next Saturday and defeat Belarus on Wednesday week with or without Owen's presence.
Capello has revealed that he wants the right mix of players who will gel together as a team in order to win Group 6 and progress to South Africa 2010. However it seems that Owen does not fit into that category at this moment in time.
The Italian tactician said: "He's fit enough, but it is not a good moment for Newcastle.
"Sometimes a lot of the results of the club for which a player plays are not good for the confidence.
"I have to decide on 23 players. I do not decide out of sympathy or because I like or dislike players. I decide on who I think is the best player at the moment."
He added: "It is not enough only to score goals.
"It is very important, but sometimes one player has not played for 89 minutes and he scores a goal, it is not enough.
"The goals are very important, but it is not only the goals."
