Owen eyes astonishing England comeback

Michael Owen claims he has not given up on breaking England's goalscoring record - even though he has played just 79 minutes of Premier League football this season.

The Manchester United striker, now 32, still dreams of passing Sir Bobby Charlton's England 49-goal mark, but admits he has no international future while Fabio Capello is Three Lions boss.

Injuries and a lack of first team opportunities have reduced Owen to a bit-part role at Old Trafford but, incredibly, he insists he can still score goals for England.

He said: "I am proud of what I did for England and what I have done. Obviously Sir Bobby's records are in my sights. I am still here."

Owen was a main-stay for England in his days with Liverpool and Real Madrid, and was guaranteed his place in the starting line-up, having starred in World Cups and European Championships.

He scored 40 goals in 89 games for England, to move within touching distance of 1966 World Cup hero Charlton's national record.

But Owen saw his England career go hopelessly wrong when Capello took charge of England in 2008, after the team's failure to qualify for that summer's Euros.

"As soon as Fabio Capello took over, that was it," he said. "I was on the bench for his first game in charge after having been an automatic starter for 10 years, and then after that I wasn't in the squad.

"The manager is the only man who will know the answer why.

"You have to accept it. If you get upset and angry to start with, if you will keep getting wound up. You have to let it go and that's that.

"I don't know why, that's something you have to ask the current manager.

"Once you make a decision then maybe you've made the decision. That's it, and even if I kept scoring I don't know what would have happened."

Owen has seen his career go downhill fast since losing his England place.

Indeed, the whole so-called Golden Generation - including the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard - has never lived up to expectations.

Time is running out on that group of players, even if Owen refuses to admit it.

The striker has been relegated to being almost exclusively a Carling Cup player, and has admitted he gets nervous before ties in English football's third most important competition because his chances to impress United boss Sir Alex Ferguson are so rare.

When Owen scored three goals in two Carling Cup ties this season, the England-recall bandwagon was immediately rolled out of the stable.

That seems an impossible dream now, as Capello's reign has put paid to Owen's England ambition.

Owen has instead spent much of his time with racehorses.

His love of the sport of kings has been criticised by some, who see it as being more important to him than his football.

But, rather than look towards a career on the turf, Owen insists that he plans to stay in football even after his playing days are over.

He added: "Horse racing is my hobby, but I will stay in football in some capacity. It is what I know."