Pearce: Door remains open for Owen

30 March 2009 13:15
England Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce insists the international door is still open for Michael Owen, despite his omission from the latest squad. The 89-cap 40-goal England ace was not included in Fabio Capello's last squad despite making his Newcastle comeback after a stint on the sidelines. Despite a number of injuries to England's frontline ahead of Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine, Owen remains overlooked raising question marks whether his international days are behind him. However, Pearce believes Capello was right not to include over due to a lack of recent match practice and says the former Real Madrid and Liverpool man will be recalled once he proves his form and fitness. When asked if Pearce had an opinion on Owen's omission, he replied on Sky Sports News: "Yeah the same as Fabio's. He hadn't played enough football."The one thing Fabio doesn't do is shut the door for anyone. It's been mentioned maybe that certain individuals maybe out of time and that the door has been shut, but that's not the case. "I don't find that. They are not the words that Fabio uses and his actions are not like that either. Anyone that's on form that's fit and playing for their club will get the opportunity. "He's certainly shown that with the squad of U21s where he's been happy to call up the likes of Gabby (Agbonlahor), James (Milner), Theo (Walcott) and Aaron (Lennon) and Joe (Hart). All of these players have been given the opportunity because their form is good enough."

Source: Eurosport