England coach Kevin Keegan is looking to Michael Owen as injuries threaten to decimate his strike force for Saturday's international with France in Paris.
Keegan has called up Leeds' Alan Smith from the Under 21 squad after Emile Heskey was ruled out with a knee injury and Andy Cole (Achilles) and Kevin Phillips (shoulder) were unable to train yesterday. It leaves Owen and Smith currently as Keegan's only fully fit strikers for the clash with the World Cup holders and European Championship winners.
But the performances of Owen in the first few games of the season has given Keegan plenty of encouragement.
He said: I think Euro 2000 has helped Michael Owen a lot. Players need little boosts to their confidence when playing at this level and he's looked in great form.
The England coach admitted that Celtic's on-song Chris Sutton was one option he will consider if it is decided that more firepower is required later in the week.
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