Owen's taste for trophies
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Manchester United striker Michael Owen insists he is very happy at Old Trafford.
Owen will find out before the end of Tuesday how long he will be sidelined for by the hamstring injury he suffered during Sunday's Carling Cup final.
The setback, the second time this season Owen has been forced out of a game before half-time when he was being watched by England boss Fabio Capello, almost certainly signals the end of any lingering hopes of making this summer's World Cup.
Yet that disappointment in itself does not mean Owen regards his move to Old Trafford as a failure. On the contrary, with one winners' medal in his pocket and the prospect of more to come as United go for glory in the Premier League and Champions League, Owen has no regrets whatsoever.
"I am loving it at Manchester United," he said. "There are plenty of people who want to put negative spins on things. I have four kids, I am living at home and playing for one of the best teams in Europe. It is not all doom and gloom is it?
"We still have the Premier League and the Champions League to play for, which I have never won, so I have every reason to have a smile on my face."
The one dark cloud is the injury, which Owen believes will sideline him for a number of weeks once the exact extent is established by a scan he expects to take place on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old will be doubly frustrated because he knows the injury will be used to highlight fitness concerns he believes do not actually exist. Thirty-one appearances so far this season do not square with those concerns either, and, as his lack of starts is down to Wayne Rooney's phenomenal form, that is hardly something he can be blamed for.
Certainly Sir Alex Ferguson is sufficiently impressed to rule out any chance of Owen leaving United this summer, a position the former Liverpool player is happy to endorse.
"I am very pleased the manager is suggesting I have done well in my first season," he said. "The way Wayne has played this season has been fantastic. In any other year, he might have picked up an injury or been suspended and I would have got more games."
Owen expects to get more games once he is back to 100% and play a significant role in United's quest for more silverware.
Scoring in his first Wembley cup final appearance was a decent reward for a season's endeavours. But that only brought a third Carling Cup medal. Now he wants a big prize, knowing he has never been part of a side that has conquered England or Europe.
"Trophies drive me," he said. "I have not won as many as a lot of those players in that dressing room, so if they still have the hunger, I certainly have.
"Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are where they are because they have a hunger to do well. I would like to think I am still hungry as well. I don't think the manager would accept it if anyone wasn't hungry to win."
That hunger will only have been made more acute by events at Stamford Bridge before United claimed the first silverware of the season.
Chelsea's unexpected home defeat to Manchester City means the Red Devils' fate is in their own hands once more, with so much resting on that meeting between the top two at Old Trafford on April 3.
Owen should be back for that, although there are other important games before then, starting with Saturday's trip to Wolves, when victory would once again allow Ferguson's men to claim top spot.
"It has been a great weekend for us, with Chelsea not getting a great result and us winning here," Owen said. "We are all really happy at the minute.
"I am disappointed because I am going to be out for a few weeks, but once I get back it will hopefully be for some important games."
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Michael Owen's first medal with United has left him hungry for more, especially as the two remaining 09/10 trophies are missing from his CV.
The striker had mixed fortunes in the Carling Cup final, netting United's equaliser but then leaving the field just before half-time with a hamstring injury. However, Owen expects to be fit again soon, and is hoping to play a part in the decisive months of April and May.
"Trophies drive me, and we're still competing for the Premier League and the Champions League, neither of which I have ever won," said Michael.
"So even though I have had an unfortunate injury, I have reason to have a smile on my face. It is not nice to get injured and to know you will be out for weeks, rather than days. But I can't disguise the pleasure you get from scoring, winning a match and picking up a trophy. You remember days like that for the rest of your life.
"I have had a fantastic first year in United colours. I am loving it here."
Owen's goal at Wembley leaves him one short of double figures for the Reds - number ten could well come at a crucial time.
"That was my ninth goal of the season, which is not bad considering I have not played that much," said the striker, who made only his 11th start on Sunday.
"Of course, I'd like to play a lot more. But we have played 43 games this season and I've been in the team or on the bench for 42 of them. I have been available throughout, and I will be back from this injury in plenty of time to play in some big games. It has been a great season so far and it is not over yet."