McClaren puts team first

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Owen's scoring record is not impressive when he has been partnered by the Manchester United star, but McClaren has no doubts it can work.

He said: "People talk about statistics but football is not about individuals. It is about pairings and the team and they will score goals for us."

While Owen drew a blank in Saturday's comfortable 3-0 triumph over Estonia, Rooney finally managed to break a scoring drought in competitive action for his country which dated back to Euro 2004.

It was Rooney's 13th goal in 39 games, a tally which eclipses Heskey's return of five in 45 England appearances.

"Michael might score more with Emile Heskey but Emile hasn't scored many goals. Michael got them all," added McClaren. "They may be distributed slightly differently but the combination between Wayne and Michael will probably get just as many and that is the key thing.

"It is not about individuals scoring goals, it is about the team doing it."

McClaren highlighted the situation at Arsenal, who for years relied upon Thierry Henry for their goals output.

Now, with Henry at Barcelona, a more even spread has developed which results in the north London outfit sitting proudly at the Premier League summit.

"Thierry Henry scored 30 goals a season at Arsenal," said McClaren. "But when those goals are spread throughout the team, you are not going to miss him."