Roeder dismissed speculation the 27-year-old would return to action against a Hartlepool side on Wednesday, although revealed he briefly considered unleashing him and Shola Ameobi after long fights for fitness.

However, Roeder insisted the £17million man remains firmly on course in his rehabilitation from knee surgery.

He said: "With Michael, is quite simple, very simple: the very fact we considered him for a game on Wednesday - and Shola is the same - and have decided not to play either of them just shows you how close both of them are to playing.

"You can make your own assumptions from that.

"Michael Owen is world news, not just British news, in football. If I say he is going to play in the middle of next week and he does not, hysteria breaks out that he has had a setback when he, for sure, has not.

"All I can say is we are getting very, very close. He is in great shape, he really is. Honestly, he is in great shape."

No friendly has been arranged, although Roeder is confident he could remedy that situation at 24 hours' notice.

He said: "We can pick up the phone to any local club and get a friendly pretty quickly, within a day.

"But we have not thought about arranging a friendly for next week just yet. We will see how this week goes first."

Owen has not played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in England's World Cup finals clash with Sweden in June last year.

He has managed only 11 appearances for the Magpies since his big money move from Real Madrid in August 2005.