Newcastle striker Michael Owen has played down a plea from Reds captain Steven Gerrard for him to return to Liverpool.

Gerrard feels his former teammate could solve Liverpool’s goalscoring problems, but the England striker admits he is happpy with life at St James Park.

Owen said: “It is nice of Steven to say what he thinks of me, but someone else makes those decisions.

“I am happy here, as I have always said. I made a decision last summer to come here and have loved every minute.

“Stevie has said they need a striker, or that they need to score more goals.

“He’s a good friend of mine, so I’d expect him to say ‘Michael Owen is a good player’ because I would say the same about him.”

Owen has not played this year because of a broken foot and admits he is disapppointed at spending so much of the season on the sidelines.

“Thankfully when I have played, we have managed to get some points and I have managed to get some goals,” he told his club’s website.

“I’d be feeling pretty awful if that hadn’t been the case and I’d played nine or 10 games and nothing had happened when I had played.

“That’s the only softening of the blow. But the rest of it is not. I’m disappointed that I haven’t played as much, but it will not be long until I will be playing again.

“Hopefully, it’s only a short period of time and I’ll be back out there in the black and white.”

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