NEWCASTLE skipper Michael Owen will miss this afternoon's home game with Fulham because of injury.

As revealed in this morning's Northern Echo, Owen missed training yesterday because of a knock.

Newcastle officials had described his absence as a 'precautionary measure', and had hoped the problem would improve in time for today's game.

However, Owen was ruled out of the match this morning, and does not even feature on the substitutes' bench.

He is replaced by Obafemi Martins, and the Nigerian's promotion to the starting XI represents the only change to the side that beat Middlesbrough on Monday night.

Newcastle can effectively secure their Premier League safety this afternoon if they win and Hull City lose at Bolton.

NEWCASTLE (4-4-2): Harper, Beye, S Taylor, Bassong, Duff, Guthrie, Butt, Nolan, Gutierrez, Viduka, Martins.

Subs: Krul, Coloccini, R Taylor, Smith, Ameobi, Lovenkrands, Carroll.

FULHAM (4-4-2): Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Dempsey, Etuhu, Murphy, Gera, Nevland, Kamara.

Subs: Zuberbuhler, Johnson, Zamora, Dacourt, Gray, Kallio, Baird.

** READ A FULL REPORT AND ANALYSIS OF TODAY'S GAME IN MONDAY'S NORTHERN ECHO **