Owen has spent the last 10 months on the sidelines after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament during England's World Cup finals clash with Sweden last June.

Manager Glenn Roeder has warned a minor groin problem means Owen may have to wait until the trip to Reading a week on Monday.

Roeder said: "At this stage, I have not even discussed it with Michael as to whether he will be back for us on Sunday.

"He is 50-50, but he will not return until in my opinion he is in pristine condition - and he has had a slight groin strain which he picked up in shooting practice at the end of last week.

"His groin is a bit sore, but that is what happens when players have been out for a long time, they pick up niggles in other parts of their body.

"At the moment, we are being very careful with Michael, as we would with any other player.

"He certainly has not been ruled out of the Chelsea game but, if in the end he is, then we will start looking to our next match at Reading."

Two bouts of knee surgery in America left him facing a long haul back to fitness with Newcastle insisting he would not be rushed back as they fought for compensation for his loss.

Indeed, a veil of secrecy was thrown around the club's Darsley Park training headquarters last Tuesday when he and follow long-term absentee Shola Ameobi took part in a friendly behind closed doors against Gretna.

Both men got 70 minutes under their belts and scored, sparking speculation they would figure for the reserves in their trip to Middlesbrough this Tuesday.

However, while Ameobi did play and score in a 5-1 win at the Riverside Stadium, Owen was left behind with Roeder adamant there had been no setback.