Michael Owen will be back on duty for Middlesbrough match

May 7 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

MICHAEL Owen will return to Newcastle United’s starting line-up as Alan Shearer implements another tactical overhaul for the critical visit of Middlesbrough.

Owen is back as Shearer prepares to switch to the 4-3-3 formation that nearly conjured the first win of his reign against Portsmouth a fortnight ago – and it will be the fifth time that Newcastle’s caretaker boss has radically revamped his formation and team in search of that elusive three points.

Shearer’s assistant Iain Dowie admits that the weekly reshuffles are far from ideal, but feels that the pair have been forced into the changes by injuries and a lack of consistency on the part of his players.

Easily the biggest decision taken so far was to axe Owen, and while Shearer is obviously concerned about his former team-mate’s lack of form and confidence, the England striker was always likely to return before the end of the season.

Newcastle’s most prolific forward he might be, but Owen is patently unsuited to fulfil the lone striker role that Mark Viduka performed at Liverpool.

He is, however, more likely to have an impact as part of a three-pronged attack and Shearer will have no worries about Owen’s ability to overcome the disappointment of his Anfield axe. “Michael’s reaction has been tremendous,” Dowie said. “He’s trained properly, he’s been nice and bright – there’s been no sulking as a result of not being in the team.

“Alan has spoken plenty about Michael and what he still has to offer to the team. He’ll be in our thinking for Monday.”

Owen’s omission was the latest setback in a season that has seen the 29-year-old disappear off Fabio Capello’s radar and suffer one of the longest goal droughts of his career. Many observers have already written his obituary as a top-level performer – but Dowie is not one of them.

“Do I think he’s less of a player now? No. Of course, a goal breeds confidence and he’ll be desperate for one of them,” he said. “But if you look at it, how many chances has he really had since we took over?

“Maybe a header at Stoke and the one against Portsmouth. If we create chances for Michael, he’ll score them, I’ve got no doubt about that. What we need to do, if he plays on Monday, is create the chances for him.”