ENGLAND striker Michael Owen will pick up no prize if he collects his 30th international goal at St James' Park on Wednesday night.

Should he find the back of the net - and Azerbaijan boss Carlos Alberto reckons England might get 10 - he will receive nothing but the warm glow of going level in his country's all-time scoring list with Tom Finney, Alan Shearer, and Wanderers legend Nat Lofthouse.

It is more than 50 years since Finney and Lofthouse were terrorising international defences, and while their names have passed into English footballing folklore, it is with Shearer that the 25-year-old will be most closely compared.

The pair formed a devastating partnership for their country, the power, experience and lethal finishing of one complementing perfectly the electric pace and youthful fearlessness of the other as defences around the world were put to the sword, and Owen has since taken over the mantle of his mentor.

It will give Owen great pleasure to match Shearer's achievement in his own back yard at St James' Park.

At 25, the Real Madrid hitman could have seven or eight years ahead of him at the highest level, and that means he has a genuine chance of becoming his country's leading goalscorer of all time.

Only Jimmy Greaves, Gary Lineker and Sir Bobby Charlton lie ahead of the 30 club, and many are tipping Owen to make a large dent in their lead against minnows Azerbaijan.

Some have even tipped him to break Malcom MacDonald's record of five goals in a game.

Owen said: "That would obviously be very nice. I know that I would also go fourth overall and that would be fantastic.

"Poland winning 8-0 has certainly got everyone thinking there could be a few goals about. I'm sure everyone will have a ruthless streak as you have to try to put games out of reach early on.

"Winning the game is the most important thing but if there is the opportunity to score a few goals, I'm sure a lot of the players will be pushing on to improve the goal difference."

England boss Sven Goran Errikson, however, remained cautious when predicting how many goals his side will score, insisting the points are all that matter. He said: "To be honest I didn't like what I saw about how many goals England would score will it be five, will it be eight? It is important to win the game and make a performance as we did on Saturday."