Owen fights to recover for United encounter

Michael Owen, Liverpool's leading goalscorer this season, yesterday underwent intensive treatment on the back injury he suffered playing for England against Turkey at Sunderland on Wednesday. The club hopes he will be fit for tomorrow's lunchtime confrontation at Manchester United in a match which could have a huge bearing on the outcome of the Premiership title race.

One piece of good news for Owen, who has scored 22 goals for Liverpool this season and is in the middle of a streak of seven in his last 10 club and England matches, is that at least the injury is not connected to previous hamstring problems.

Most Liverpool players who had been on duty for their countries on Wednesday did not report for training until late yesterday afternoon. Owen, however, was at their Melwood training ground earlier in the day for treatment with the club's physio, Dave Galley.

Owen limped out of England's 2-0 win over Turkey at the Stadium of Light with what looked like a leg injury but turned out to be a damaged back. He will have round-the-clock treatment, up to kick-off if necessary.

Owen said: "I have got a dead back. It usually takes a couple of days to heal but I am just hoping it will be all right after some treatment. I will have to wait and see."

Owen said he suffered the injury in the opening minutes of Wednesday's game. "I got a kick in the back in the first five minutes which caused it and, with hindsight, I maybe should have come off then, but it improved as I carried on," he said. "But then I got another kick at the start of the second half, so I had to come off."

The BBC announced yesterday that the match had an average audience of 11.1m, peaking at 12.1m – the biggest audience in that time-slot since the England v Albania World Cup qualifier in September 2001. It also delivered the biggest sports audience on all channels so far this year, beating the Champions' League game between Manchester United and Juventus.