Owen: Carling Cup now gives me the jitters - Exclusive

It is a measure of Michael Owen’s reluctant new-found status that he was struck by nerves ahead of a Carling Cup tie at Scunthorpe.

The man who has graced World Cups, European Championships and played for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle and Manchester United was suddenly anxious about playing in front of 9,000 people at Glanford Park.

“I said to my dad before the Scunthorpe game that, having played in World Cups, European Championships and for some of the biggest teams around the world, it was suddenly a big game for me,” said Owen.

“Had I not done well, then I might not have got another chance for a month or so. So all of a sudden I found myself being quite nervous before the third round of a Carling Cup tie, which was a novel experience for me.

“But on a serious note, whether you like it or not, it’s true. With the limited opportunities you get, you have to grab them. If you don’t, it can be a long wait before you get back in.”

Owen has started just two of United’s 10 games this season but showed his enduring class that night against Scunthorpe, scoring twice in a 5-2 win.

But Owen, 30, admitted so few starting opportunities at United increased the pressure to perform whenever he is called upon by Sir Alex Ferguson.

“Oh 100 per cent,” said Owen. “That’s definitely the case. If you’re starting every week and you have a bad game, there’s always the next match. But if you’re third, fourth or fifth choice, it’s harder.”

But Owen said he always knew he was going to struggle to be a regular starter at United, with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov ahead of him in the pecking order.

“Everyone wants to play, but you’ll never see me throw my toys out of the pram or knock on the manager’s door,” said Owen.

“I’d be silly if I thought I was going to come from another club and walk straight into a new team. I know my role in the squad.

“If the last year and a bit is anything to go by it’s going to be occasionally playing in the cup competitions and not so much in the league.

“I understand that. I don’t close my eyes and pretend things aren’t happening when they are.”

This week Owen has been training at United’s Carrington complex, while his former England team-mates prepare for next week’s Euro 2012 qualifier with Montenegro.

Owen insists he will never give up on playing for England again despite his latest snub from Fabio Capello.

With Jermain Defoe, Bobby Zamora and Gabriel Agbonlahor injured, and doubts over the fitness of Wayne Rooney, Owen looked to have the best possible chance of ending his prolonged exile.

But Capello showed Owen could not be further from his thoughts by ignoring him yet again, this time in favour of Bolton striker Kevin Davies, who earned a shock first call-up.

After three goals in two games for United, Owen had every reason to think his turmoil at the hands of Capello was about to end.

But despite his latest England setback, the man who has scored 40 goals in 89 appearances for his country said he has not given up hope of pulling on the famous Three Lions shirt again.

“I haven’t resigned myself to never playing for England again” said Owen. “But I’m not stupid enough to get myself worked up before every squad’s announced and then go ‘oh no, the world’s caved in and I’m not in it again’.

“Everyone deals with things in different ways. The first time I wasn’t named in the squad I was really gutted. The second time I was pretty gutted, the next time I was just gutted and so on.

“People deal with knockbacks in life, whatever they may be, in different ways. You build up a protective mechanism so it won’t hurt you.

“If someone punches you on the nose, it hurts, so the next time it happens you’ll put your hands up or you expect it’s coming, so you soften the blow.

“It’s like that with England. It hurt to start with, it hurt a little bit less the second time, and now it doesn’t hurt as much. But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up.”

Owen’s last England appearance came as a substitute in a 1-0 defeat to France in March 2008, since when he has been consigned to the international wilderness.

But he insists he has not spent too long brooding over reasons for his continued omission. “I really haven’t thought about reasons why I’ve not been picked,” said Owen.

“In fact, I only found out the latest squad when I picked up the newspapers this week.

“I’d love to play for my country again, but I don’t look out for the squad expecting my name to be in it, unless someone phones me to tell me otherwise.”

Owen is way too experienced to get into any kind of public row about his ommission, and instead focuses his effort on winning his place back in the squad.

“Unfortunately you can’t say a lot of the things you believe, because it will come out the wrong way and be misinterpreted,” said Owen. “I still watch England, of course.

“I still have a lot of friends in the team and you can’t play for your country for as long as I did and not still have an interest in how they’re doing.”