Bullard Receives Shock England Call-up But Capello Passes on Owen

Fabio Capello handed a delighted Jimmy Bullard an unexpected first call-up to the England squad last night but the national coach waived the opportunity to recall Michael Owen, recovered from injury at Newcastle United, for the first competitive games of his reign against Andorra and Croatia.

The Italian watched Owen play in Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Arsenal and was clearly unimpressed with the 28-year-old's fitness. The country's most experienced and prolific forward of recent times was starved of service as his team were overrun at the Emirates. Instead, Capello has opted for only three recognized strikers in his squad: Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey and Wayne Rooney, with the trio boasting only 24 international goals from 119 caps between them.

Yet Owen's omission was overshadowed by the surprise selection of Bullard, a player whose future at Fulham has been cast into doubt in recent weeks, with Bolton Wanderers apparently keen to lure him to the Reebok.

"I'm absolutely over the moon," Bullard said last night, "just delighted. I'm so excited, but I just want to go and meet up with the guys now and do whatever the manager asks of me."

Bullard suffered a dislocated knee and ruptured cruciate ligaments in September 2006 and was sidelined for 15 months but recovered form and fitness to play a key role in Fulham's successful fight against relegation from the Premier League last season. He currently has two years to run on his contract. Although talks over a new deal are not considered to be at an impasse, the Fulham manager, Roy Hodgson, has effectively put renegotiations with existing players on hold.

The 29-year-old midfielder, who started his career at Gravesend and Northfleet and once went on a free transfer from West Ham to Peterborough United, has been included after Steven Gerrard, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick were all forced out of contention through injury.

The West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green, who saved Jason Robert's penalty against Blackburn on Saturday, is recalled along with the Everton defender Joleon Lescott, with the latter preferred to Jonathan Woodgate.

But there are concerns over the strike force selected. Owen boasts 40 goals in 89 England appearances but has played only 45 minutes under Capello. Despite scoring on his two previous substitute appearances this season, he joined Portsmouth's Peter Crouch and Dean Ashton of West Ham in being ignored. The Italian appears to consider Theo Walcott as his fourth striker, though the Arsenal player usually features on the flank at club level.