Michael Owen insists he will not be tempted to rush his return from a knee injury, with April the earliest he expects to make his comeback.
The Newcastle United striker injured his knee while playing for England in the World Cup against Sweden.
He has undergone two operations with renowned surgeon Richard Steadman to repair a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and a damaged meniscus.
Though there is a slim chance Owen could play for The Magpies again this season, he admits he will not cut any corners in his quest to return to full fitness.
"There's always targets," Owen told Sky Sports News. "When you are playing you tend not think you've got to score this many goals or win this many points, but you certainly have certain things in mind.
"It's no different when you are injured, you have targets. There is a specific game, but it's probably miles off and what's going to happen either way I'm not sure.
"It's something to focus on and look forward to. The general gist of it is between six to nine months, so if it's six, it will be the start of April, seven the start of May and eight or nine I will miss the season.
"It depends on which one of them. I won't come back until it's ready. It would be foolish not to do that.
"I'm sure I will come back fit and strong when I do come back."
Owen is continuing his rehabilitation with the Premiership club and he admits he is happy to be working around his team-mates.
He added: "It's always been key for me to be around the lads. I would hate to do my rehab somewhere else and just come back to training, with the lads having not seen me for months.
"I had to fly over to Colorado twice for two separate operations. I was away one week for the first and two weeks for the second.
"Apart from that I have been at the club every day. It's enjoyable seeing the lads every morning, talking about football and other things. It's what you're meant to do really."
In Owen's absence, £10 million signing Obafemi Martins has been charged with the task of scoring the bulk of Newcastle's goals and his impact has been hailed by his stricken colleague.
"He's done well, he seems a nice lad," said Owen of the Nigerian.
"A lot of people were talking about our striking situation, with myself injured and Shola carrying an injury for the last couple of months.
"Martins scored a couple of great goals the other day. I was at that match.
"It was good to see him score goals and get a bit of confidence.
"It's not easy coming to a different country and playing, so it was nice to see that and I hope he keeps scoring goals for us."
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