Owen happy to score the goals

Owen has scored twelve of his twenty goals for England since Sven-Goran Eriksson became England manager. In that time, only David Beckham has offered able support to the 23-year-old. The likes of Emile Heskey and Paul Scholes have found goals for the national side hard to come by in recent months. Owen, though, admits that he enjoys the responsibility placed upon him by an expectant public.

Owen said: "If you play for Liverpool and England, and you're a striker, obviously you carry a lot of expectations. If loads of people are willing you to do well, then you either crumple under the pressure or you thrive on it. I'd like to think that I thrive on it.

"Everyone has a responsibility in the team. Probably my main part is to provide goals and if I'm not doing that, I'm not doing my job.

"Take Thierry Henry out of the Arsenal side or Ruud van Nistelrooy away from Manchester United and it's all the same. Every team has players they need. We had an attacking midfield on the team-sheet against Liechtenstein. Steven Gerrard is probably the most defensive, but even he likes to go forward.

"A lot has been made of Paul Scholes not scoring in a few games, but everyone knows that's temporary and he has a proven record of scoring a lot of important goals."