Capello offers Owen route back into England

The England football team flew out to Dnipropetrovsk yesterday for their final away fixture of the World Cup qualifying against the Ukraine. With their place in South Africa having been booked by their magnificent 5-1 humbling of Croatia at Wembley last month, Fabio Capello's charges have a chance to write their name into the history books as the first national team of the modern era to achieve qualification for a major event with a perfect record.

"The manager has stated he wants to win all 10 games and that is what we are aiming for," striker Wayne Rooney said. "He has made it clear to us these two matches are as important as all the other games we have played. They are the last competitive games we will play before the World Cup." Rooney, who talked yesterday about how he hopes struggling Argentina and Portugal don't make it through to the finals, will be hoping to add to the nine goals that have taken him to the top of the European qualifying goalscoring charts.

Such is the buzz in the England camp at the moment, there have only been two withdrawals from the squad named last Sunday by Capello, Joleon Lescott and Paul Robinson, neither of whom were likely starters for tomorrow's clash. Incurring the disciplinarian Italian's wrath for skipping a 'dead rubber' tie would be tantamount to booking a holiday during the World Cup campaign next summer, not least because the manager has reached out to all of the players used in the qualification games to thank them for their part in England's success.

In another gesture which shows just how adroitly he has negotiated the job, Capello has invited each of the 55 players he has named in an England squad since he took over in 2008 to attend the final game against Belarus on Wednesday. Significantly this includes the injured Manchester United striker Michael Owen, who could interpret the move as a sign that the door is still open.