Juande Ramos has warned his players to beware of the threat posed by Michael Owen ahead of the visit of Newcastle United.
On Wednesday night Owen came off the bench for the second consecutive England match and had little impact during a dour performance from Capello's side. Ramos, however, is well aware of the ability of the former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker.
"He's a magnificent player and very dangerous," said Ramos. "We will have to look out for him, paying attention to what he does throughout the game."
Owen has four goals in his last seven matches including a goal in the 2-0 win against Fulham last weekend. The victory was Kevin Keegan's first since returning to the club and the performances of his talismanic striker will go a long way to determining whether he can keep the Geordies in the Premier League. It's a task that Ramos believes Keegan is capable of achieving.
"When you go to a new team it's very difficult," explained Ramos who has had to adapt to a new club and a new culture.
"I am sure he'll be able to get Newcastle out of the situation they find themselves in."
With the likes of Owen, Obafemi Martins and Mark Viduka Keegan has an impressive, if not erratic , selection of forwards to choose from. Scoring goals has, perhaps, been his sides biggest failing this season, having scored 33 to Tottenham's 60.
Having lost the last five consecutive matches against Newcastle, Ramos is calling for a strong defensive display from his side: "Hopefully, defensively, we'll be as good as we were against Portsmouth."
The Spaniard may well have to reshuffle his defence, as Johnathan Woodgate has a tight hamstring and could miss out. If he does play it is likely that he will continue to be partnered with Michael Dawson, as captain Ledley King continues his recovery from injury.
Contrary to what may have been assumed, Ramos has so far refused to use the remainder of the season to experiment with his side, suggesting he has already made his mind up about the fate of many of his squad. Darren Bent, despite an impressive substitute appearance against Portsmouth, is unlikely to unseat Dimitar Berbatov or Robbie Keane, although it appears Tom Huddlestone is not too far from playing his way into a regular staring position.
Match prediction: With little resting on the game for Ramos, the focus of the match will be on Keegan and his side's battle to avoid the drop. Despite being many neutrals preffered choice for relegation (a testimony to their ability and, perhaps, the attitude of their support) the remaining fixtures are kind and their home form should be enough to keep them up, simply because there are worse teams below them.
Despite a poor recent record against Newcastle, our home record and superior fire power should be enough to deny them vital point this weekend but Keegan will have other opportunities to stave off relegation.
2-1, Keane and Berbatov with Martins to open the scoring.