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Michael Owen continues successful rehabilitation after injury and should return to the field by the end of this season.
The striker is still recovering from a cruciate ligament injury suffered last summer at the World Cup.
"I think in a couple of weeks I will start training at full strength," said M.Owen. "I can already run and sprint at full force."
One of England's most capable strikers, Owen healed a broken foot bone just before the tournament in Germany, but suffered another painful blow in the group stage match against Sweden, which has kept him sidelined until now.
It is worth noting that without M. Owen, the England national team has struggled - in the last five matches, football representatives of the homeland only managed to score against opponents' goalkeepers three times. Steve McClaren's team will have to improve this statistic in the European Championship qualifying matches on Saturday and Wednesday against Israel and Andorra respectively.
Speaking about Andrew Johnson, who will likely replace him in the striker duo with Wayne Rooney, M.Owen said: "W. Rooney performs well playing alongside a quick partner who stretches the defense and creates opportunities for him to shoot or dribble. A. Johnson should fit perfectly for this."
