Source: PA
Owen confident of United playing time
Michael Owen expects to be given plenty of chances to impress for Manchester United over the forthcoming months after opening his account for the season with two goals in the Carling Cup at Scunthorpe.
The former England striker netted twice in the second half at Glanford Park as the defending champions progressed to the fourth round with a 5-2 win.
Prior to the game, Owen had managed only 46 minutes of action since the Community Shield in August, less than Mexican youngster Javier Hernandez, while it was Federico Macheda to whom boss Sir Alex Ferguson turned with United level at 2-2 against Liverpool last weekend.
All three started at Scunthorpe in a team that showed 11 changes from the line-up that faced their bitter rivals, and it was Owen who made the biggest impact.
Owen's future at Old Trafford has been called into question in recent weeks, with the striker reportedly unhappy at his lack of playing time. The 30-year-old, though, expects that to change now the season is in full swing.
He said: "There's been a lot of us that haven't played in the first month of the season but now the Champions League's started, the League Cup's started and there's Premier League games all the time so I'd like to think there's going to be plenty of games coming thick and fast. People make a lot of different situations but there's a lot of us in the same boat that haven't had many minutes."
