England put in a solid performance to beat Austria 1-0 in their friendly in Vienna with a goal from Peter Crouch - but Michael Owen picked up a thigh strain that rules him out for the final Euro 2008 qualifying match against Croatia.

Owen will miss a month of Newcastle United's season as well as Wednesday's qualifier at Wembley.

Liverpool striker Crouch headed the only goal of the match shortly before half-time from a David Beckham corner.

The pair were the better players in an England shirt as Steve McClaren's side dominated for a large proportion of the 90 minutes.

One could have forgiven supporters for a lack of interest in this meaningless fixture before the opening whistle, but there was a good atmosphere inside the ground and both sets of players gave a decent account of themselves.

Andreas Ivanschitz gave the travelling English fans a scare after six minutes when he found space inside the penalty area on the left. His cross on the ground was hoofed away by a defending Frank Lampard.

Beckham sent in a few wicked balls that caused trouble for the home defence, with Crouch - who linked play well - the chief recipient.

On 25 minutes one such tantalising cross from deep led to a collision between Jürgen Macho and Crouch as Ronald Gercaliu headed behind. The Austrian 'keeper swallowed his tongue but, with help from the England staff, he was taken out of danger.

Alex Manninger, formerly of Arsenal, appeared in his stead and pulled off a fabulous save from a close-range Michael Owen flick, the result of a nifty passage of play in the final third between Joe Cole, stand-in captain Steven Gerrard and Crouch.

Immediately after the chance Owen pulled up and signalled to the bench that he needed to come off. He headed straight down the tunnel while Jermain Defoe took his place on the field.

Later the news emerged that he had a thigh strain and will be missing for several weeks, a blow to the Toon Army's season as well as potentially England's qualification chances.

Wayne Bridge, picked ahead of Chelsea team-mate Ashley Cole, got forward from left-back on several occasions and when he sent a diagonal ball to Crouch's chest, nippy Stamford Bridge winger Cole took it on and sped through a gap in the back-line.

Manninger emerged from his goal to save expertly at his feet and although Crouch followed up with the 'keeper stranded, René Aufhauser blocked a few yards from goal.

From that kick Beckham found Crouch towards the back post and the Liverpool bench-warmer headed inside it in style for the only goal.

Home captain Ivanschitz was the chief threat in a red shirt as the fans got behind their side, a surprise given the mock movement to close the national team down after one win in 10 matches prior to the game.

Aufhauser asked for a penalty when he felt that half-time substitute Wes Brown had tugged him to the ground but referee correctly waved it away. Brown then found Crouch with an inswinging cross from the right and his bullet header was brilliantly saved again by Manninger.

Gerrard and Cole had made way for Gareth Barry and Ashley Young alongside the Brown introduction and acquitted themselves well in the second period but with little to show for it.

There were a multitude of changes by both managers before the end and it was an open game in the latter stages. Although England were the better team, they should have closed the game out sooner.

More important than the result against relatively mediocre opposition - who nevertheless will feature at the Euro 2008 finals as hosts, perhaps unlike England - is the loss of Owen.

Should Macedonia grab a result against Croatia or Israel against Russia, England will look to this blow - which leaves Crouch as the only recognisably international-quality striker - and wonder if he should have been left out on a bitterly cold night with his track record on muscle injuries.

Join eurosport.yahoo.com for LIVE scoring of all this weekend's qualifying action, plus text commentary on the home nations - including Scotland v Italy - and other big clashes!!

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport