Owen eagled the 17th to go four strokes clear

Victory at the Forest of Arden would ease the painful memory of his Portuguese Open collapse earlier this season.

The Englishman admitted, after carding a solid 67, that his failure to win in Portugal when he had been two shots clear with five holes to play will drive him on in the closing round.

"Portugal upset me," he said. "I want to make amends for that.

"I felt very calm today, I want to feel the same way tomorrow. No point plodding around and being fourth or fifth."

Owen eagled the 17th and made four birdies against a single bogey as he moved to 13 under.

British Masters leaderboard (GB unless stated) -13 Greg Owen -9 Richard Green (Aus), Ian Poulter -8 Matthew Blackey, David Lynn Selected others:-2 Darren Clarke; Level Lee Westwood; +1 Justin Rose

But despite his position, he will still be wary of the in-form Ian Poulter, who bounded from last place to a share of second by equalling the course record with a nine-under 63.

The winner of last week's Welsh Open is now nine-under for the tournament alongside Australia's Richard Green, who had started level with Owen.

Poulter opened with four straight birdies and by the time he reached the turn he was six-under for the day and eyeing a 59.

"I knew I had a great chance to go under 60 but I missed three or four putts from eight feet," he said.

The only blot on his card came when he three-putted on the short 18th after pushing his tee shot 80ft left of the flag.

Defending champion Justin Rose needed a round of similar feats to have any chance of retaining his crown, but could only manage a 73 that left him one over for the tournament.

Darren Clarke was another of Europe's US Open hopes to make little impression, shooting level par to remain at two-under.