Michael Owen stepped up his recovery
from long-term injury with a 70-minute run-out for Newcastle in a
training-ground match against Gretna.
The England striker, who has been sidelined since suffering a knee
ligament injury in the World Cup group game against Sweden last
summer, impressed Magpies boss Glenn Roeder with his progress and
scored after 10 minutes.
Fellow striker Shola Ameobi, who played for an hour as he recovers
from a long-standing hip problem, was also on the scoresheet
although Roeder was keen to stress both players still have a long
way to go.
He said: "The two lads played in an 11-a-side game against Gretna
at the training ground on Tuesday.
"Michael played for 70 minutes and Shola played for 60 minutes and
we are all, including the medical staff, very happy with the way it
went.
"But again I have to say that playing an 11-a-side match on the
training ground is still a long way from playing Premiership
football."
good to see one of the best striker Liverpool ever produced scoring
on his low key return match for Newcastle, if only he can be the
striker he used to be then England might have a better results in
their future games... but hey, wouldn't that makes the manager stay
longer as well??? 
