Soccer: Owen eyes early return

LONDON - Injured England striker Michael Owen hopes to be back playing for his club Newcastle United before the end of the season.

Owen suffered a crucial ligament injury during a World Cup match against Sweden in June and has since had two operations on his knee.

"I'm confident that I can play again this season. It'll be great if I could," Owen told BBC radio on Sunday.

"I have a scan at the turn of the year and as long as everything's knitted together quite nicely we'll press on. Hopefully, I can start jogging in early February and then we'll really kick on from that.

"It's been a long slog so far and there's still quite a lot of work to be done till I'm back out playing but I've got other things that are keeping me occupied and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now," added the 26-year-old former Liverpool and Real Madrid player.

- REUTERS