Owen to miss England qualifiers after scans reveal he needs surgery

Owen has struggled on with the injury for a fortnight and had planned to play through the pain until England's Group E campaign was finished in November.

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But after limping out of Newcastle's 3-1 win against West Ham on Sunday, the second successive Premier League game he has failed to finish, he had further scans to assess the injury. Those indicated the problem has not healed and Owen was seeing a specialist on Monday, fearing he will have to undergo an immediate hernia operation.

There remains a slim chance that a period of rest may allow the surgery to be postponed, but there are misgivings that any delay could risk the player's long-term health.

If Owen is forced to have an operation now, as expected, he would be ruled out for anything between two weeks and a month — almost certainly ending his hopes of facing Estonia at Wembley on October 13 and the crucial trip to Russia four days later.

This would, however, present him with a realistic chance of returning for the final qualifying game with Croatia on November 21. Owen's career since returning to England from Real Madrid in 2005 has been plagued by injuries. He has started 16 Premier League games and has had to fight back from a metatarsal injury and a damaged cruciate.

He had thought his problems were over after recovering from a thigh injury suffered in pre-season training, scoring five goals in four games for Newcastle and England before limping out of a Premier League game at Derby eight days ago.

Owen and Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce have been warned that to ignore the need for an operation could have serious repercussions.

Dudley Rogg, clinic director of the British Hernia Centre which treats many sports stars, said: 'Letting him play football with his injury is quite surprising and could cause Mr Owen serious medical implications in the future.'

England coach Steve McClaren received one piece of good news yesterday when West Ham striker Dean Ashton said he is fully fit and ready for an England recall.

Ashton broke his ankle training with England last year and spent 12 months on the sidelines. But he has scored in his last two games, including the defeat at Newcastle. With doubts about Emile Heskey and Michael Owen, Ashton has put himself forward for a return.

He said: 'I wouldn't be playing if I wasn't ready for an England call-up. I've been ready for a long time. It would be lovely finally to realise that dream of winning my first England cap but I know I just have to be patient.'

Newcastle travel to Arsenal in the Carling Cup tonight with Allardyce calling on Arsene Wenger to give him respect for his managerial achievements. The pair repeatedly clashed when Allardyce was in charge at Bolton.

Allardyce said: 'Do I have admiration for Arsene Wenger? Without a doubt. I've never disrespected him in any way. It's more the opposite. We had good results against them, alhough we never won at Arsenal.'