Manchester United defensive boost with return of Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans

29 December 2009 11:03
The Manchester United manager, whose team face Wigan at Old Trafford on Wednesday, welcomed back Wes Brown and Nemanja Vidic from injury for the 3-1 victory at Hull on Sunday after an injury-ravaged month saw him without eight first-team defenders at one stage. [LNB]Captain Gary Neville has been given a clean bill of health after a three-week groin injury lay-off and Evans and Ferdinand are also closing in on comebacks. [LNB]England defender Ferdinand has been sidelined with a back problem since October, while Evans has been forced to battle ankle and calf injuries for the past month. [LNB]But with United facing a busy New Year fixture list, with cup ties against Leeds and Manchester City added to their Premier League workload, Ferguson expects Evans and Ferdinand to make a welcome return to action. [LNB]Ferguson said: 'While John O'Shea will be out for a bit longer yet, I am hoping that Evans and Ferdinand will be back soon. [LNB]'They are not too far away and it could be quite soon when they return to action. [LNB]'Jonny has been training, but just felt a tight hamstring the other day, so we have had to put him on the easy list for a couple of days. [LNB]'It's always a case of easing them back in. With Wes and Vidic, they did ten days of physical work and only trained a couple of days with the players before playing at Hull. [LNB]'But the important thing was that we had got the physical work back into them before they returned to the football pitch. [LNB]'Having the defenders back makes a tremendous difference, though, and Gary Neville will also be available for us against Wigan, which is another boost for us.' [LNB]United can close the gap on leaders to Chelsea to two points with a victory against Wigan tomorrow night. [LNB]And Ferguson insists that he will be delighted to end the year two points adrift in second spot following the injury problems of recent weeks. [LNB]He said: 'With the injuries we have had in December, I would definitely accept a two point gap at this stage of the season. [LNB]'You always aim to be in touch at this point and we are not far away.' [LNB]

Source: Telegraph