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I've nothing left to prove to Madrid says Owen
England striker Michael Owen said that he has nothing left to prove to his Real Madrid teammates.
The former Liverpool striker scored one of England's goals during their 4-0 World Cup qualifing win over Northern Ireland at Old Trafford at the weekend and said that he was happy with his contribution this season for the Spanish giants, even though he has often had to make an impact as a substitute.
"I don't have to make any points out there now, I've been successful at Madrid, scored goals and the fans are pleased with me. The players respect me, and I think I've already proved myself," Owen told Sky Sports News ahead of England's game Wednesday against minnows Azerbaijan in Newcastle.
"It's been virtually a full season now and I've had a decent season. It has been a good start for me out there and I've scored plenty of goals.
"I know people say 'you haven't played all the games', but I've played over 40 games and more than half of them have been starts. I'd like to think I will have played over 50 games by the end of the season and that's not bad in anyone's book."
Owen admitted his goal against Azerbaijan in the first meeting between the countries in Baku last October had given him the spur he needed to succeed at club level.
"I came back from my first stint out of the country and I had a slow start, a slow few weeks. England gave me a kickstart, I scored the winner and returned to Real feeling confident and went on a run of seven goals in seven games which was really important for me," he said.
Owen tried to rein in expectations of a cricket score against the former Soviet side, who he feels will not make the same basic errors they did in their 8-0 loss to Poland Warsaw.
"We were on our way back from the Northern Ireland game and there were a few people on the phone to friends, saying it was 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 and so on and we were all shaking our heads.
"There is going to be pressure on us but obviously 8-0 is a score you don't often see in international football. We will be happy to get the three points and if we can score a couple of goals that's a bonus.
"Comparisons are bound to be made with what Poland have done and I know the staff and coaches have seen the match. There were a lot of mistakes made in the Azerbaijan team and I don't think they will make as many mistakes again. Every shot Poland had seemed to go in."
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