Michael Owen admits he is desperate to put his injury nightmares behind him and to prove the critics wrong.
Injury has restricted the Newcastle striker to only 14 first-team appearances since his £17million move from Real Madrid in 2005 and some have suggested he has become injury prone.
Owen missed the majority of last season after damaging his anterior cruciate knee ligament while on England duty in the 2006 World Cup.
However, having rediscovered his fitness, the 27-year-old is now more focused than ever to show he still has the top-level goalscoring touch.
"It's never been a goal of mine before to stay fit, but I suppose after these last two years, I want to play a full season," Owen told Newcastle's official website.
"I don't consider myself injury prone. I have played a lot of games throughout my career for club and country and it's frustrating that my injuries have happened at Newcastle.
"I'm definitely going into this season as strong as I have been for a long, long time and I don't envisage any problems.
"If I'm fit, everyone knows I will score goals. I have done that all my life."
Owen has scored seven goals in 13 starts for Newcastle and he found the back of the net for the first time in a year with his strike in England's 3-0 European Championship qualifier victory over Estonia in June.
Source : www.skysports.com
By Peter Fraser - Created on 16 Jul 2007
