Michael Owen is certain to start England’s opening World Cup match against Paraguay with Sven-Goran Eriksson insisting his striker, who is recovering from a persistent foot injury, is fitter than he was going into the last two major tournaments.

“Michael Owen is 110 per cent certain against Paraguay,” Eriksson said. “He is extremely focused on that. I think in the past, he has been afraid to miss the World Cup. That’s normal, but once a World Cup starts, that fear is completely over. Physically, he’s better today than he was before Japan, and before Portugal. He lacks match tempo, but fitness-wise, he’s very strong.”

After six months of frustration due to complications with a broken metatarsal, the Newcastle striker is returning to sharpness and will feature for at least an hour against Hungary on Tuesday as he gears up for the Group B opener.

“I’ve felt good in training but that counts for nothing. There are plenty of players around the world who are good in training, but that doesn’t get you far,” said Owen, who played 61 minutes as captain of England B in the 1-2 defeat against Belarus last week.