Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed Mikael Silvestre could play again this season, despite damaging cruciate knee ligaments at Goodison Park on 15 September.
Initial reports claimed the Frenchman would miss the rest of United's 2007/08 campaign but the United boss told Manchester United Radio he expects the 30-year-old to be fit for the title run-in.
"I'm sure Mikael will be back in March," Sir Alex said. "We had him operated on in France last week and it all went well. It was pleasing to see there was no further damage other than the cruciate ligament. That's a big bonus because sometimes there can be cartilage problems that also come along."
Meanwhile, the manager also confirmed Gary Neville will begin full training today.
"Gary will be training with us this week for the first time. He's been working hard on his fitness but he's now fully into the football side of things as well. It's pleasing news because it's been a long time for the lad. We're very, very pleased.
"He's been unlucky and just had one injury on top of another. It's just an accumulation of small injuries that has set him back. Hopefully he's now on the mend and we're looking forward to having him back."