By Paul Joyce for "The Daily Post" 17/8/1998
Liverpool manager Roy Evans is looking for his players to cash-in on Michael Owen's reputation. Joint Anfield boss Evans is convinced the attention devoted by opponents in trying to stop the 18-year-old striker can mean boom time for the rest of his attacking armoury.
Owen followed up his World Cup exploits in the summer by immediately opening his season's Premiership account in the 2-1 win over Southampton on Sunday.
Fellow striker Karlheinz Riedle was also on the mark in one of his best Liverpool performances as he capitalised on the panic the England international caused.
And Evans believes the scrutiny Owen's displays will inevitably now receive from rival defenders can have positive spin-offs for the rest of his star-studded squad.
"I think everyone can benefit from the attention Michael gets," said Evans. "It used to be Macca who received the man-to-man attention, and it still will be, but now the opposition have got to consider Michael, Karlheinz and Patrik as well. That is the kind of situation you want. It means that teams cannot think about man-marking one man because there are four or five people who are looking to get chances against them."
The Owen-Riedle partnership linked up at the beginning of last season and Evans admitted he and Gerard Houllier would be spoilt for striking options when Robbie Fowler returns to full fitness.
"I thought Karlheinz was excellent. He had a couple of chances and might have had a hat-trick in the end," continued Evans. "It is not a bad partnership, and when you consider we have Robbie Fowler to come back and we have yet to see the best of Sean Dundee we have great options."
Knee-victim Fowler will step up his bid for fitness this week by joining in ball work with his team-mates. His recovery has renewed hopes that the star striker will return to action before the beginning of November.
"First of all he is working very hard, is attitude is superb and while it is difficult to say when he is back I hope it is earlier than expected which was originally December," said Frenchman Houllier.
"Let's wait, let's not go too far, let's not overdo it, but at the moment he is training well. This week he will gradually come back into the ball work with the others which is a good sign for the future."
Meanwhile, skipper Paul Ince has given Liverpool another injury scare ahead of Saturday's Anfield clash with Double winners Arsenal.
The England star was taken to hospital yesterday for X-rays on a foot injury and feared he may have broken a toe, which would have sidelined him for the visist of Arsene Wenger's Double winners and also England's opening Euro 2000 qualifier against Sweden in Stockholm on September 5.
But the results of the scans have revealed that Ince has only bruising and he is expected to be fit to face Arsenal.
"The injury was very painful and I went for x-rays but they showed it was only bruising and I should be alright," he said.
Midfield partner Jamie Redknapp is in line for put himself up for a recall at the weekend as he continued his latest comeback in the reserves' 3-1 win against Birmingham City last night.
