Michael Owen hopes he can still push for a substitute's role as Manchester United push towards another title.
The injury-prone striker has not played since November because of a thigh problem and even though he knows he will not start in any of the final three matches, he wants to be able to do a job if called on by manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
"My mindset has got to be get myself ready mentally, physically and everything else because I might be needed for 10 or 20 minutes at a late stage of the season.
"Who knows? It could be the last game of the season at Sunderland. I might have built up enough, whether playing in a reserve game or two, and then that's fine.
"But I think the immediate thing is to get myself mentally ready, just in case the manager says, 'I'll put you on the bench' or whatever and I'll come on for 15 minutes and try to nick a goal if we're struggling.""I can't imagine myself getting back and starting in the 11," he told MUTV.
