Manchester United striker Michael Owen hopes to see action before the end of the season.

The striker has been out injured since 2 November but could yet have a part to play in the run-in with Sir Alex Ferguson admitting the 32-year-old's golden touch in front of goal may prove vital.

"It's been a long, old road when you're injured and this is probably the most frustrating part of the job," Owen told MUTV's Inside Carrington programme. "I've been out quite a while and been a bit in and out, doing a bit of training with the reserve lads, being the spare man, the 'joker' as we call it, in sessions. That was just to ease me back in for the first week. In the last week, I've been doing everything fully with the lads.

"I've been back in a couple of weeks and it's exciting to come in and know you're going to be training rather than wandering off to the gym to do all the rehab stuff so it's better late than never. But the staff here are great and they change what you're doing so it's a gradual process right from the early stages until they're handing you over to the first team."