in the World Cup, says West Ham assistant manager Frank Lampard.

Lampard yesterday joined the growing clamour for the Liverpool wonderkid to be given a starting role in Glenn Hoddle's side ahead of Manchester United's Teddy Sheringham.

Lampard, who is on the Island conducting a soccer clinic with local youngsters, told The Royal Gazette : "We played against Liverpool towards the end of the season and they beat us 5-0. Owen tore us apart.

"His main asset is his change of pace. He can leave you for dead.'' He agreed that the 18-year-old could be considered a little one-footed but added: "I don't think that matters. Admittedly he's going to come up against the best defenders in the world but he's got this thing called pace which means he can be out of a game for 85 minutes and then come in and do something.

"He's only a young boy and he makes so many chances that he can't put them all away but he's a very confident lad and if he gets the chance I think he'll do well. And with a fresh player like him teams aren't too sure how he plays and it can take a season to work him out a bit. I think he could be a bit of surprise package.'' Lampard stopped short of backing England to win the tournament but suggested their poor pre-World Cup form may not be a bad thing. "England haven't had a particularly good preparation in the three games leading up to the World Cup but sometimes that can work in your favour,'' he said.

"It's better to be able to iron a few things out now than in the first or second game of the tournament. And it can take the pressure off because the level of expectation is not so high.'' Meanwhile, Lampard admitted to having concerns about how the new ruling on tackles from behind would affect the event as a spectacle.

FIFA have decreed that any such tackle should be punished with an automatic red card for the finals, which some see as a move towards the eventual outlawing of tackling per se.

But Lampard said: "It's going to be strange. If they stick to the law rigidly then I think there are going to be red cards all over the place. "I mean, there's no skill in a foul from behind -- that's just clumsiness or trying to hurt someone -- but I think good tackling is an art in itself.

"Bobby Moore was a fine example. He wasn't a hard kind of player, he just used to slide in and take the ball and drag it away from people.

"I just hope they don't take that out of the game.''