FOOTBALL: DON'T TAKE THE MICHAEL - I'LL PROVE YOU WRONG

MICHAEL OWEN insists he has lost none of his confidence in front of goal - and he aims to prove it by firing England to glory this summer.

Owen came under fire after missing a succession of chances for Liverpool as Bayer Leverkusen ditched them out of the Champions League.

Suggestions that England's star striker had lost his touch forced Gerard Houllier to come out and defend his under-fire marksman, who had only recently returned from injury.

"I was certainly touched by the manager coming to my defence," said Owen, who was on target for the Reds yesterday. "I think it's important to have someone who sticks by you and doesn't just discard you if you have a bad game.

"There will always be times when you don't play well in a game or you're suffering from the effects of an injury. But, like most players at this level, I'm going to have more good games than bad ones.

"But it's nice that I can count on my manager's support and the only way to respond to it is to go out, score a load of goals and help your club and country to win things."

Owen admitted he was shocked by the reaction to his shaky form after recovering from a recurring hamstring injury.

"It always takes me a couple of games to come back from injury," he said.

"I have to say I was surprised by the criticism and some of the reaction to me after the first couple of games following my return from injury.

"I thought everyone who had watched me over the last four or five years knew it was a natural thing that I don't come back firing on all cylinders.

"It normally takes me two or three games. But now I've had five or six games, I'm confident the goals will come.

"If people want to criticise me for missing chances that's up to them - but to me missing chances doesn't necessarily mean you've played badly.

"I thought the Bayer Leverkusen game in Germany was one of my better games. I would prefer to go through a game and miss 10 chances than go through a game, not score and not even have a kick on goal.

"But I can live with criticism, I'm big enough to deal with it. You have to get into positions to score goals and I'm doing that. I also have the belief than I can score - and I will."

Needless to say, even Owen claims that he is still sweating on a place in England's World Cup squad.

The country's stand-in skipper insists he won't be entirely happy until Sven Goran Eriksson finally puts him out of his misery and tells him he's going to be on the plane this summer.

"You might think I'm joking, but I'm not prepared to take anything for granted - certainly not where football is concerned," said the Liverpool striker.

It's a pretty safe bet to assume that Owen will be boarding the plane when it leaves for the Far East, but the tension building in the England camp is clearly getting to him. He added: "You're naturally on edge because the World Cup is such a massive tournament to play in.

"And you can listen to people's expert opinions all day but it doesn't matter - the only person whose opinion counts is the manager.

"It goes without saying that I want to go to the World Cup and hopefully - touch wood - I've done enough to be part of the squad that is eventually picked.

"But there is an air of nervousness as it gets closer. I think even the experienced players are feeling it because there is always some doubt in your mind."

Owen made the perfect start to his inaugural role as captain against Paraguay last Wednesday, scoring inside four minutes to silence the critics.

And although the honour of taking the captain's armband wasn't lost on him, Owen will be far happier if David Beckham returns in time to take the armband off him.

He said: "It was a tremendous honour, one I won't forget in a hurry. I remember, just after scoring the goal, jogging back to the halfway line and thinking, 'It doesn't get much better than this.'

"All the same, though, I would far rather see David Beckham return from injury and lead the side into the World Cup.

"Belief is one thing but when you don't have your best players on the field you're always at a disadvantage.

"Hopefully that won't be the case and David will be back to make a difference."

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