Owen played just three times for Newcastle last season and has failed to respond to treatment on an injury that has wrecked his pre-season programme.

The 27-year-old now looks set to sit out United's season opener against Allardyce's former club Bolton next weekend, paving the way for new signing Alan Smith who has arrived for 6million pounds from Manchester United.

Allardyce told the Daily Mail: "It doesn't look as encouraging as we first thought.

"The tear in the muscle hasn't healed as quickly as we would like, so there's no point in making any rash decisions just to get him fit for the start of the season.

"It's about getting him 100 percent for playing matches on a regular basis. That's why it has been more disappointing for him that he's missed pre-season games more than training.

"He's done enough training to last him a lifetime."

Owen broke his foot at the start of the 2005-06 season after joining from Real Madrid and then damaged his knee at the 2006 World Cup which kept hin sidelined until the last few games of the 2006-07 campaign.