England boss Steve McClaren admitted he had been impressed by the form of Michael Owen after the striker made a speedy recovery from injury to make himself available for the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Owen returned to action for Newcastle at the weekend just eight days after a double bout of surgery and is now set to play for England against Estonia and Russia in the vital double header.

Asked if he was pleased with Owen's fitness, McClaren told Sky Sports News: "Yes I was, he was very sharp. All the players did considering they had played but I very impressed with him."

The England boss also backed Paul Robinson after the Tottenham goalkeeper's position had come under the spotlight following a poor run of form.

"He has never let us down and Paul Robinson is in."

The former Middlesbrough manager has a number of decisions to make concerning team selection with the likes of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole on yellow cards.

It is therefore possible McClaren could choose to rest players ahead of the vital clash with Russia.

"There are plenty of issues when you talk about the team on Saturday and decisions will be made this week.

"There are issues with yellow cards, in midfield and up front so a few things to think about.

"I will name the team on Friday and Saturday we play against Estonia and make sure we get three points there."

McClaren also revealed defender Wes Brown has returned to Manchester United with a knee injury.

McClaren rejected suggestions he and Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce were at loggerheads over whether Owen played and insisted the striker would feature so long as he was fit.

"People talk of a conflict between Newcastle, Michael and ourselves and there is nothing further from the truth," he said.

"We liaise with the club, the medical people, we liaise with (manager) Sam (Allardyce), we liaise with the player. No risk will be taken but Michael is a very important player to us and if Michael is fit, Michael will play."

The England boss revealed he had been impressed with Frank Lampard in training after the Chelsea midfielder returned to action against Bolton on Sunday following a thigh injury.

"You want your best players available for big games like this and make no bones about it these are big games.

"We have put ourselves in pole position, it's up to us to make sure we do the business on Saturday, get the three points and then move on.

"He (Lampard) has been a great servant. I think he was our man of the match against Germany but unfortunately he has not played since then.

"But he comes back in, he's had 90 minutes and he's looking good in training and we'll see how he is."

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