Source: Manchester_EveningNews
Owen settled at United
Michael Owen insists he is loving life at Manchester United. Owen will find out in the next 24 hours how long he will be sidelined for by the hamstring injury he suffered during Sunday's Carling Cup final. The setback, the second time this season Owen has been forced out of a game before half-time when he was being watched by England boss Fabio Capello, almost certainly signals the end of any lingering hopes of making this summer's World Cup. Yet that disappointment in itself does not mean Owen regards his move to Old Trafford as a failure. On the contrary, with one winners' medal in his pocket and the prospect of more to come as United go for glory in the Premier League and Champions League, Owen has no regrets whatsoever. "I am loving it at Manchester United," he said. "There are plenty of people who want to put negative spins on things. "I have four kids, I am living at home and playing for one of the best teams in Europe. It is not all doom and gloom is it? "We still have the Premier League and the Champions League to play for, which I have never won so I have every reason to have a smile on my face." The one dark cloud is the injury, which Owen believes will sideline him for a number of weeks once the exact extent is established by a scan he expects to take place on Tuesday. The 30-year-old will be doubly frustrated because he knows the injury will be used to highlight fitness concerns he believes do not actually exist. Thirty-one appearances so far this season do not square with those concerns either. And, as his lack of starts is down to Wayne Rooney's phenomenal form, that is hardly something he can be blamed for. Certainly Sir Alex Ferguson is sufficiently impressed to rule out any chance of Owen leaving United this summer, a position the former Liverpool player is happy to endorse. "I am very pleased the manager is suggesting I have done well in my first season," he said. Rooney impact "The way Wayne has played this season has been fantastic. "In any other year he might have picked up an injury or been suspended and I would have got more games." Owen expects to get more games once he is back to 100%, and play a significant role in United's quest for more silverware. Scoring in his first Wembley cup final appearance was a decent reward for a season's endeavours. But that only brought a third Carling Cup medal. Now he wants a big prize, knowing he has never been part of a side that has conquered England or Europe. "Trophies drive me," he said. "I have not won as many as a lot of those players in that dressing room, so if they still have the hunger, I certainly have. "Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are where they are because they have a hunger to do well. I would like to think I am still hungry as well. "I don't think the manager would accept it if anyone wasn't hungry to win." That hunger will only have been made more acute by events at Stamford Bridge before United claimed the first silverware of the season. Chelsea's unexpected home defeat to Manchester City means the Red Devils' fate is in their own hands once more, with so much resting on that meeting between the top two at Old Trafford on April 3. Owen should be back for that, although there are other important games before then, starting with Saturday's trip to Wolves, when victory would once again allow Ferguson's men to claim top spot. "It has been a great weekend for us, with Chelsea not getting a great result and us winning here," said Owen. "We are all really happy at the minute. "I am disappointed because I am going to be out for a few weeks, but once I get back it will hopefully be for some important games." What is you verdict on Owen's season so far? Have your say.
