MICHAEL Owen is determined to stay positive as he faces up to another lengthy spell on the sidelines. A fractured metatarsal at Tottenham on New Year's Eve wrecked the second half of last season for the club's record signing, and he knows he won't kick a ball before the end of the year after rupturing his cruciate in England's World Cup clash with Sweden.But as Owen prepares to jet out to America to see specialist Dr Richard Steadman, he revealed in an exclusive interview with Newcastle World TV that he "feels guilty" for the Newcastle fans who will be without their star striker for the foreseeable future.

He said: "We've had all the scans done over here, basically we're thinking from what the scans say that it's a cruciate."It's a rupture, you can't see the cruciate on the scan so it's obviously floating about somewhere in the knee, but apart from that there is minimal damage. "There is nothing else that needs operating on, so that is a big bonus."Not so much of a bonus in terms of time limits, but just in coming back where you have just one injury to come back from and not plenty of things going on in your knee." He added: "It's a bitter pill to swallow, and if I thought I'd miss the World Cup and be back for the start of the season then it would have softened the blow, but to get the injury that most footballers fear the worst and to be ruled out for the rest of the year is a major disappointment." "You look at it and think it can happen to anyone, and it was just disappointing that it happened to me in such a massive game in the World Cup. "There are plenty of players who are worse off than me, who have had plenty more injuries than me."

Owen's injury-plagued spell on Tyneside means he has made just 11 appearances for the Magpies since his summer switch from Real Madrid, and he admits to "feeling guilty" at the start of another period of inactivity."I did feel guilty as I said shortly after the injury, I'm that type of person," he added. "My mum, dad, sister and wife came down from the stand to the treatment room after I was carried off, and they were talking to me and obviously you feel sorry for yourself for a few minutes. "But after that I was straight on the phone texting people at Newcastle, the manager, the chairman obviously, and that's the way I feel. "As soon as I got injured I thought the World Cup was dead and buried for me, and the main people to suffer were the Newcastle fans, and the Newcastle public. "That's how I feel. Some people feel sorry for themselves, some people feel other things, but I automatically felt responsible and feel like apologising, even though the people I talk to say I shouldn't feel like that."

And looking back at the incident which brought a premature end to his involvement in the World Cup, Michael added: "It was my first touch I think.  "I got the ball into feet out wide, took a touch and saw Ashley Cole just making a run inside me and I played the ball inside the defender. "I went to plant my foot, I'm not sure where I was going to run, but I think it must have been back towards the central area, and I just felt my knee give way. "I didn't know whether it was a twist or what, but it just literally gave way. "After that I just remember crawling off the pitch and into the treatment room."