England striker Michael Owen has been ruled out of Saturday's Euro 2004 qualifier against Turkey after failing to recover from a shin injury, British newspapers reported on Thursday.

Owen, who sustained the injury in Liverpool's 2-1 defeat by Arsenal last Saturday, was going back to his club for further treatment and would not be flying out to Istanbul with the rest of the squad later on Thursday, said the reports.

An FA spokesman refused to confirm Owen's withdrawal late on Wednesday, saying he "remained with the squad".

The loss of the striker would represent a major blow for coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, whose preparations for England's most important match since the 2002 World Cup quarter-final against Brazil have been overshadowed by controversy.

On Wednesday, England's players decided against boycotting the match over defender Rio Ferdinand's omission from the squad for failing to take a drug test last month.

England must avoid defeat in Istanbul to qualify automatically for next year's European Championship finals in Portugal but the absence of Owen, who has a record of 24 goals in 53 internationals, may prove damaging.

A like-for-like replacement could be Aston Villa's Darius Vassell, who scored in England's 2-0 home victory over Turkey in Sunderland in April.

Another option for Eriksson would be to pair Owen's Liverpool team mate Emile Heskey up front with Everton teenager Wayne Rooney.