Sam Allardyce will use Michael Owen 'sparingly' upon the Newcastle United striker's return to action.
Owen has been out for six weeks with a thigh injury suffered while playing for England in a friendly with Austria in mid-November.
He is back in training and could feature at some stage for the Magpies during the Christmas and New Year period.
But Newcastle boss Allardyce is wary about Owen suffering a setback and appears likely to adopt a cautious approach to the forward's comeback.
"Owen is still ahead of time," said Allardyce in the Daily Mirror. "We said six weeks when it first happened. He is back in the fold again.
"Any player who gets injured on a regular basis, it is our concern to try and avoid that situation as much as possible. It does not come overnight, prevention of injuries is a slow process.
"It is a challenge when you have a quality player of that nature who is as bitterly disappointed as we are that he is getting little niggly injuries.
"It is not as if they are serious injuries like he had before. So that is another challenge compared to what he used to have.
"But he is fit again and hopefully that will be the end of it for a decent period of time.
"He has worked very, very hard again to get back in the squad and now it is about keeping him available for selection as much as possible, and keeping his core strength and his availability open to us on a regular basis.
"A goalscorer like him could be major for us. We are building him up and using him sparingly at first. Hopefully that will build up match fitness and stave off any injuries."
Source : www.sportinglife.com
