England manager Fabio Capello has left Michael Owen out of his 23-man squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus.

Owen was not included in the squad for September's wins over Andorra and Croatia following injury and illness.

But the 28-year-old has played in all of Newcastle's six games since then and scored five goals this season.

Joe Cole is out with a foot injury but Steven Gerrard returns and Peter Crouch and Shaun Wright-Phillips earn recalls.

Jimmy Bullard and David Bentley make way for Gerrard and Wright-Phillips, who have been in fine form for Liverpool and Manchester City respectively.

Scott Carson replaces the injured Paul Robinson as Capello's third-choice goalkeeper, while David Beckham retains his place and Wayne Rooney has proved his fitness after an ankle injury.

Theo Walcott and Emile Heskey, both of whom impressed against Andorra and Croatia, retain their places.

Following two victories from their opening two qualifiers, England play Kazakhstan on Saturday in front of what is expected to be a record international crowd at the new Wembley.

Capello's men then face Belarus in Minsk on Wednesday.

Owen's omission will raise questions about his international future under the Italian manager.

The striker's only appearance during Capello's reign came as a substitute in the 1-0 defeat by France in March.

Despite Owen's record of 40 goals in 89 international appearances, Capello suggested on Saturday that he was looking for more than just goals.

"Is he in good form now?" said Capello, whose assistant Franco Baldini was at Goodison Park on Sunday to assess Owen against Everton. "He's scoring but it's not enough to score goals.

"Sometimes I see games where a player has not played for 89 minutes and then scores a goal. It's not enough.

"Goals are very important but not only goals."

Ashley Young had been tipped to make the squad but Capello watched the Aston Villa winger at Chelsea on Sunday and he was not included.

England squad in full: James (Portsmouth), Green (West Ham), Carson (West Brom); Brown (Manchester United), Johnson (Portsmouth), Terry (Chelsea), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Lescott (Everton), Upson (West Ham), A Cole (Chelsea), Bridge (Chelsea); Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Walcott (Arsenal), Barry (Aston Villa), Jenas (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Downing (Middlesbrough), Wright-Phillips (Manchester City); Heskey (Wigan), Crouch (Portsmouth), Rooney (Manchester United), Defoe (Portsmouth).