Newcastle United's former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker Michael Owen is facing the very real possibility of ending his career as England's fourth-highest goalscorer.

Owen, who scored the last of his 40 England goals against Russia over a year ago, has been left out of the squad announced by coach Fabio Capello for the World Cup qualifiers with Kazakhstan and Belarus.

There was no surprise about Owen's omission, which was merely confirmation that Capello is not the Newcastle forward's biggest fan.

So, while he was prepared to bring back Emile Heskey for the August friendly with the Czech Republic and restore Peter Crouch to his latest squad, Owen's exile is set to last for quite a while unless the Italian has a major change of heart over the 28-year-old.

David Beckham's experience at Real Madrid is proof Capello is capable of extreme decisions. But those moments are rare in his outstanding career, which leaves Owen needing to come up with something pretty spectacular if he is to force his way back in.

If Crouch replaces Joe Cole in a squad also shorn of goalkeeper Paul Robinson through injury, Steven Gerrard's inclusion ahead of Jimmy Bullard is no shock.

The question Capello must mull over ahead of Saturday's Group Six encounter with Kazakhstan at Wembley is whether to restore the Liverpool skipper to his starting line-up.

England squad for World Cup qualifying matches against Kazakhstan and Belarus on October 11 and October 15:

James (Portsmouth), Green (West Ham), Carson (West Brom); Brown (Manchester United), Johnson (Portsmouth), Terry (Chelsea), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Lescott (Everton), Upson (West Ham), A Cole (Chelsea), Bridge (Chelsea); Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Walcott (Arsenal), Barry (Aston Villa), Jenas (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Downing (Middlesbrough), Wright-Phillips (Manchester City); Heskey (Wigan), Crouch (Portsmouth), Rooney (Manchester United), Defoe (Portsmouth).