Owen contract 'not an issue' for Allardyce

The 27-year-old England marksman was back on Tyneside today, after finding himself the subject of daily headlines for the last three weeks.

Newcastle moved swiftly during Owen's spell with the national side to quash claims that he still has a get-out clause in his contract at St James' Park which could see him leave the club for as little as £6million.

However, Allardyce's revelation that there were no immediate plans to extend the former Liverpool and Real Madrid forward's contract - with almost two years of his existing deal still to run - caused a fresh splash.

The manager is perplexed by the furore - and is simply intent on making the most of Owen's goal-scoring prowess after two injury-plagued seasons on Tyneside.

He said: "I do not know why anybody has brought the contract up, because I do not see it as an issue at the moment at all."

Owen played for Newcastle just eight days after surgery which allowed him to make himself available for England.

The relative merits of Allardyce's claims on the player and those of England boss Steve McClaren were discussed long and hard on Tyneside and beyond, with the artificial pitch at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium for Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifier a particular focus.

But Owen headed back from Russia in one piece and ready to play his part in Monday's Barclays Premier League clash with Tottenham at St James' Park.

Allardyce - who remained in close touch with both the striker and McClaren during his time with England, was relieved - and, he insists, not surprised.

He said: "I didn't expect anything else, really. I expected him to be okay, and that's exactly what we have got.

"Alan Smith, who didn't play a part, also had a little injury. But the medical staff with England have looked after him as well and he is okay, although the sad thing for him is that he is suspended.

"Those two players, as well as all the other players - Steven Taylor, James Milner, Charles N'Zogbia, Obafemi Martins, Geremi, David Rozehnal, Habib Beye, Abdoulaye Faye, Shay Given - they have all reported back with no problems, and that's a massive bonus for me."

The clean bill of health is a major plus for a club which has so often in recent times suffered from injuries sustained by its players on international duty - with Owen's World Cup misery two summers ago the most notable, but by no means alone.

Allardyce said: "We are very pleased to say that every international player who has been away - all 14 of them - have either rung in or come in over the last 24 hours and have reported back okay, so that is really pleasing.

"Our job now is to make sure we look at the fatigue factor on each individual player and tailor the training in the next 48 hours to suit them and get them fully recovered and available for selection for Monday against Tottenham."

Alan Smith's suspension - his booking in the 3-2 defeat of Everton was his fifth of the season - means he will be missing, but £5.8million summer signing Joey Barton could be included for the first time since fracturing a metatarsal in pre-season.

However, striker Mark Viduka and defender Claudio Cacapa remain doubts with calf and groin problems respectively.