Mac welcomes back Owen, but he's short of his best

On the day it was confirmed Wayne Rooney will be out for two months with a broken metatarsal, his England strike partner played 58 minutes for Newcastle reserves but looked rusty and made little impact in his first run-out since suffering a thigh injury in July.

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Over a big hurdle: Owen came through unscathed on his return to action

Owen did have two shots cleared off the line and played longer than the expected 45 minutes. He could even be recalled to the England squad for the friendly against Germany a week on Wednesday if Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce gives his blessing.

Allardyce said last season that he welcomed Owen's inclusion in international friendlies to give him extra match practice.

Although Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes Rooney could be back from a broken foot for England's two Euro 2008 qualifiers in October, Owen's fitness would be crucial for the home games against Russia and Israel next month.

England face Estonia on October 13 and Russia four days later on a plastic pitch in Moscow.

Ferguson is confident Rooney will be fit for those games, saying: "We're putting it down to two months. It is a hairline fracture of the foot. So, as with any fracture, to be on the safe side we are saying two months. Hopefully it will be sooner.

"Well, he'll be training by that time. Of course we will need to determine his level of fitness at that time but that is the rough timescale to indicate when he will be back in the frame.

"It is a bad blow for England. I'm disappointed for Steve McClaren. I spoke to him last night. Along with my disappointment I could sense Steve's disappointment, too."

Newcastle's medical staff were satisfied Owen, whose appearance attracted 3,600 fans to Kingston Park, was ready for a game after an encouraging week, although he is unlikely to feature in the squad to face Aston Villa on Saturday.

Owen said: "I feel fine and it was nice to get some football under my belt. It was only a small injury, a little niggle, but I've been back training for the last four or five days and it was good to get out.

"It was frustrating to miss some of the pre-season games but I've still been training and I don't feel I've missed much fitness and strength work and I've still been in the gym, as always. I'm feeling fit and to play tonight was great."