Andrew Johnson was yesterday told he was out of England's friendly against Germany at Wembley.

The Everton striker has fluid on his knee and will instead return to Merseyside for treatment with his club.

Boss Steve McClaren could therefore gamble on the fitness of Newcastle striker Michael Owen from the start.

''It is an ideal game for Michael Owen to get some minutes under his belt. He hasn't played in pre-season or had a game yet, so it's an opportunity to give him minutes,'' said McClaren.

''He is a very important player for us and one that we are looking forward to getting back into the squad.

McClaren will be unable to call on Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, Owen Hargreaves, Sol Campbell and Darren Bent for the clash with England's old rivals after his 28-man strong squad was depleted by injuries on Monday.

The England coach already had a couple of selection headaches to overcome ahead of the crunch Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia next month, which striker Wayne Rooney will miss because of his fractured left foot while Peter Crouch must serve a one-match ban.

The Government, meanwhile, was yesterday urged to tackle the ''menace'' of ticket touting after it emerged dozens of tickets for tonight's match are being illegally sold online.

A Liberal Democrat investigation found tickets for the friendly at Wembley are being sold at up to six times their face value.

Touting of football tickets is illegal because of the danger of hooliganism if rival sets of fans are not kept apart.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown will take Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel to tonight's match at the new stadium.

A trawl of the internet found more than 100 tickets were being advertised in online forums.

The sought-after tickets were also being advertised on 12 websites, including one charging £300 for a £50 seat, the Liberal Democrat investigation found.

Don Foster, the party's culture, media and sport spokesman said: ''Touting has become a real menace to football and this is clear evidence that real fans are effectively being priced out of the game.

''We're not talking about a few touts hanging around a football stadium - this is now a highly sophisticated criminal activity which is extremely lucrative.

''Touting is illegal in order to safeguard public order."