February 18 2005

Andy Johnson

Michael Owen has backed Andrew Johnson to receive another international call-up against Northern Ireland next month, after he exclusively spoke to the Croydon Guardian following last Wednesday's international, by Neil McSteen.

The Real Madrid hit-man was full of praise for Johnson, but admitted the game was not the best way for the Palace striker to show what he's really capable of.

Owen said: "He's done fantastically well this year and I'm very pleased he made his debut.

"It probably wasn't the ideal game for him it was quite a tough game for him to make his debut in, but I thought he did well and he will go back to Crystal Palace and hopefully score a few more goals to help them stay up."

Johnson entered the fray at Villa Park replacing Wayne Rooney in the 60th minute and played in an unorthodox right-sided forward role, similar to that deployed so well by Arjen Robben and Damian Duff at Chelsea, as part of Sven Goran Eriksson's experimental 4-4-3 formation.

But to Johnson's credit he was not perturbed by his unfamiliar role and showed no signs of being overawed by the occasion, with a typically energetic performance and work rate which put some of the other England players to shame.

However with Alan Smith likely to be returning from injury shortly it remains to be seen whether Johnson has done enough to convince the England manager to include him in his next squad.

Owen certainly feels he should be given another chance. Owen added: "He's scored a lot of goals and deserved his place in the squad.

"We will see what the next few games and the next few weeks hold, but he's certainly done himself no harm tonight and hopefully we'll see him in the next squad."

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