Owen aims to recapture glory days

Newcastle striker Michael Owen headed for America on Monday vowing to return to his brilliant best following surgery on his ruptured knee.

The 26-year-old faces a long haul back to fitness after the second of two operations by renowned specialist Richard Steadman, who will perform the procedure later this week. That could mean six to eight months, if not longer, on the sidelines, but Owen is already starting to look beyond that.

He said: "I will be having the operation done in a couple of days, and I'm confident, with positive thinking, I will be back and as good as ever."

Owen knows exactly what Dr Steadman - the man credited with saving Alan Shearer's career - will be doing after watching a similar operation on television.

He is aware, too, that he will not be able to rush his comeback, but after spending five months on the sidelines with a fractured metatarsal last season, he is determined to return as quickly as possible.

He said: "I was watching an operation on TV the other day of someone having their cruciate done, and it is quite a gory operation.

"But it needs to be done and I am looking forward to having it done and then having a chink of light at the end of the tunnel.

"Since this last operation, it has just been biding time, really, until I have the major one done. At last, we can have the main one done and get on with the rehabilitation.

"To start with, I will just be trying to move the knee and get everything feeling fine.

"Obviously, the time is going to be spent healing, but I will be trying to keep as fit as I can and as strong as I can so when it is time to come back, I have as little time as possible in the reserves and in practice matches, and get straight into what I want to be in, and that is the first team."