England could be deprived of the services of Michael Owen for the friendly with Hungary, after the Liverpool striker limped out of the scoreless draw with Leeds.

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier bemoans his luck on the forward front

The teenager is set for a hospital scan after being forced off the pitch with a hamstring injury in an otherwise uneventful game.

It is feared it could be a recurrence of the problem that kept him out of the Euro 2000 win over Poland, which would make him very doubtful for the Hungary match on April 28.

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier said: "It is the same leg that caused him trouble after being injured at Derby a month ago and also kept him out of the England game.

"We took him off as a precaution. It maybe doesn't look as bad as we first thought, although it could be a damage on the tendon. We just don't know yet.

"But to lose Michael and Robbie (Fowler) at the same time does give us a real problem."

Record missed

John Murray reports from Elland Road

Leeds failed to achieve their target of a club record eight successive wins in the top flight as Liverpool overcame the 20th minute loss of Owen to register an away point.

The match had lost one of its most likely sources of goals and the remaining players were unable to conjure anything more than half chances in a game dominated by the two defences and midfield battlers.

A minute's silence almost 10 years to the day since Hillsborough

The match was preceded by an immaculately observed minute's silence for the victims of the Hillsborough disaster, three days before the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.

When the football began, Leeds looked marginally the better side and might have done better early on when no-one was in the box to meet a Gunnar Halle cross.

Then two of the home side's combative midfielders were booked within two minutes, David Hopkin's challenge on Paul Ince and David Batty's dissent the two misdemeanours.

Then came the injury, Owen attempting one of his trademark runs into space as a ball was played in front of him by Steve McManaman.

England's teenage striker pulled up clutching the back of his right hamstring, and limped away to be replaced by Karl-Heinz Riedle.

Bowyer and Ince battle for midfield supremacy

The game the German joined was a poor spectacle, and it might not have mattered had there not been a ball on the pitch.

It looked as though this might be the case after half an hour when there was a delay of over a minute while a replacement was sought for the original lost ball.

A long farcical search was finally ended by Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier who found one in a bag on the touchline and threw it on to the pitch.

But the new ball did not improve the quality of the play as Fowler wasted a promising chance after a good through ball from Ince.

Hasselbaink chances

Then Hasselbaink had a weak shot from four yards cleared on the line by Dominic Matteo seconds before the Dutchman thrashed a long range effort wide.

Leeds boss David O'Leary admits he would be happy to finish fourth

Liverpool's young defender Stephen Gerrard missed his side's best chance of the half from a Jamie Redknapp corner three minutes before the break.

The second half saw Hasselbaink keen to shoot at every opportunity, but with little accuracy.

Finally in the 56th minute came Liverpool's first shot on target, although Nigel Martyn had little trouble with Fowler's effort.

The game looked as though it might be lifted onto a higher plane, but before long it had slipped back into its previous state - a tense midfield battle with few clear-cut chances.

Riedle put a header wide with twenty minutes to go and 10 minutes later Lee Bowyer came closer when Phil Babb failed to clear a Leeds corner.

Liverpool hearts were in mouths three minutes later when David James charged out of his goal to challenge the on-rushing Alan Smith, but the big goalkeeper got one hand to the ball and got away with the rush of blood.

Bowyer then almost chipped James after a neat turn with four minutes to go, but his shot cleared the crossbar and the game drifted to its conclusion.

Leeds: Martyn, Halle, Woodgate, Radebe, Harte, Hopkin, Batty, Bowyer, Smith, Hasselbaink, Kewell. Subs: Wetherall, Wijnhard, Ribeiro, Jones, Robinson.

Liverpool: James, Gerrard, Babb, Carragher, Matteo, McManaman, Ince, Redknapp, Berger, Owen, Fowler. Subs: Riedle, Ferri, Bjornebye, Thompson, Friedel.