Is Michael Owen's England career over?

As the dust settled on Saturday's emphatic 4-0 win over Slovakia England boss Fabio Capello quashed the merest suggestion that Newcastle striker Michael Owen would be included in his squad to face Ukraine on Wednesday after injuries to strikers Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole.

"I have to choose the players to play against Ukraine not against history," said Capello in a remark not exactly designed to talk up Owen's England future.

Instead, Tottenham striker Darren Bent has been called up to the squad for the World Cup Qualifier in place of a man who has 40 goals in 89 England games.

So has the striker, who stormed onto the international scene in 1998 with his goal against Argentina, seen the credits roll on his England career?

The short answer is no. Capello has always promised to pick his squads on merit, as his earlier statement suggests, and Owen has only featured sporadically for Newcastle this season due to his recurring injuries. The Italian certainly has a case at this time.

However, he has dropped Owen in the past for World Cup Qualifiers despite him playing regularly for Newcastle (and scoring) and is using Newcastle's decision to drop him for a recent defeat to Arsenal as his justification for his exclusion.

But that was surely a case of an error from a club who are, not surprisingly fighting relegation this season.

Capello, though has justified his decisions so far with results. Undefeated in World Cup Qualifiers so far, England sit top of their group, and all without Owen, ditched in favour of a more powerful centre-forward who can bring others like Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney into play.

It worked against Croatia in Zagreb and has worked in many of England's other victories and some have suggested that the inclusions of Heskey and Bent is Capello's way of letting Owen know his time is up.

The former Liverpool and Real Madrid man has received words of support from both Frank Lampard and Stuart Pearce today though and the general consensus from both is that Michael is a fantastic player with a proven track record who would be welcomed into the England squad with open arms should he get back into his best form.

So for Capello to completely write-off Owen's international career would be foolish and that is something he certainly is not.

At this moment in time Owen is not fit enough to play for England in an important World Cup Qualifier, but hopefully he will be soon. And it would not surprise me to see Owen playing well towards the end of this season, scoring goals and being involved in the England squad once again.

Here is a reminder of what Owen is capable of: