Fabio Capello insists Michael Owen still has an international future despite having not selected the 28 year-old striker for his latest squad.

Capello's men take on Andorra and Croatia in the first of their Wolrd Cup Qualifying matches this week but Owen will be forced to watch on from home.

The Newcastle captain has only recently returned to first team action but was expected by many to partner Wayne Rooney up front for England despite his limited game time.

The Italian national manager though says he simply did not select the former Liverpool forward as he did not consider him physically ready for the call up.

"I considered things and I decided he (Owen) is not fit physically," Capello explained.

"The match against the Czech Republic you could see that Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney were not fit and they played on 60 and 70 minutes.

"So it is for this reason I have not included Michael Owen but the door is still open for him to return."