England striker Michael Owen had an operation on his broken foot on Tuesday and will be out of action for the next 10 weeks quelling fears over his missing the World Cup finals in June.
The Newcastle striker, who got injured on New Year's Eve in the 2-0 defeat by Tottenham, had an operation at a Manchester hospital where a pin was inserted into the fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot.
There were fears the 26-year-old could be sidelined for up to 13 weeks having spoken to former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard, who has had a similar injury.
England team-mates David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville and Ashley Cole have also all had similar injuries.
But Owen said yesterday he was fully confident he would be fit enough for Sven-Goran Eriksson's England squad for the World Cup finals in Germany.