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The beginning of England’s World Cup qualifying campaign is not the end for Michael Owen. Given his injury history a comeback may not be simply a matter of time, but if Owen proves his fitness and finds form over the coming weeks and months, he can expect to return to the England squad.

Fabio Capello created a stir on Sunday evening by leaving the Newcastle United forward out of the party to face Andorra and Croatia in the forthcoming qualifying matches. The England manager travelled to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday intending to include Owen if he looked sharp enough. Recently recovered from a calf injury and mumps, the 28-year-old made his first start of a campaign that has already yielded two goals, lasting the distance in a 3-0 defeat by Arsenal.

Capello decided, however, that Owen remains a little rusty, especially in comparison with Jermain Defoe, who scored twice for Portsmouth against Everton on Saturday. The Italian will reassess Owen this month with a view to recalling him for the next matches, the qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus in mid-October. Owen has appeared only once under Capello, as a substitute in the defeat by France in Paris in March.

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Capello could argue that he is merely showing consistency in excluding Owen, given that he made a similar decision about David Beckham this year. The former captain was left out of Capello’s first squad, for the game against Switzerland that fell during the middle of the Major League Soccer close season. The Italian felt that Beckham was not match-fit, but the 33-year-old has featured in all four of England’s subsequent fixtures.

The manager is aware that his squad is hardly blessed with pace, which should give Theo Walcott an opportunity to impress. The 19-year-old has made only two appearances for the senior team, both off the bench. He has started the season well for Arsenal and Capello is likely to deploy him as an impact substitute.

Before the game in Zagreb a week tomorrow, England meet Andorra in Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium on Saturday. It was the venue in March last year for one of the worst England experiences in living memory. Steve McClaren’s side won their Euro 2008 qualifying match 3-0 in a toxic atmosphere. With the match goalless at half-time, abuse from fans cascaded down from the stands on to the head coach and his players.

Before kick-off, it appeared that Frank Lampard would miss the match through injury, but it later transpired that he had been dropped and he watched from the sidelines. “It wasn’t a good atmosphere on the night, simple as that,” Lampard said. “We just the hope the fans who travel there this time will be behind the team.

“Games like that can be frustrating because Andorra are just going to sit in and try to make the score as respectable as they can. You need the crowd with you because when you’re trying to break a team down, sometimes you have to wait a bit longer than you expect. It was a difficult atmosphere. I don’t know if it was as bad as I can remember, but when you play for England you have to be tough and able to handle atmospheres like that.”

Lampard disagreed that he will be under extra scrutiny because Steven Gerrard, who scored twice in that match, is injured. “I think the eyes are on all the team because we need to get results,” he said. “It’s not about individuals and the manager is very strong on that. We are looking to prepare right for both games and Andorra comes first. We take them as a package. We want six points, simple as that.”