Wes Brown is set to return just in time to ease a potential injury crisis for Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
Skipper Gary Neville and defensive colleague John O'Shea could be out for weeks, according to Ferguson after being forced out of Wednesday night's 2-0 win over Portsmouth at Old Trafford.
It would leave only Rafael as cover at right-back and while the Brazilian has had an outstanding season for United, Ferguson might be reluctant to rely solely on a teenager during the crucial latter stages of the campaign.
However, after a season wrecked by injury, Brown came through a reserve-team return at Preston on Monday and Ferguson is ready to draft the England star into his squad for Saturday's encounter with Tottenham.
"Wes is fine. He is training hard and should be OK for the weekend," United assistant manager Mike Phelan told BBC Radio Manchester.
Brown has been missing with a foot injury since October.
Although he did briefly return to action with a couple of substitute appearances at the end of January, the Longsight-born defender then dropped back out of the side.
However, while his performance at Anfield much earlier this season did attract criticism, Ferguson will not have forgotten Brown was the mainstay of a defence that won both the Premier League and Champions League trophies last term.
Meanwhile Neville and O'Shea will both be assessed on Thursday to discover the extent of their respective problems.
Neville, who has bounced back after a series of injuries over the past two years, lasted just 10 minutes before limping off with a foot injury, raising fears he had suffered a repeat of the broken metatarsal that saw him miss the 2002 World Cup.
O'Shea hurt his ankle following a late tackle by Nadir Belhadj, although Phelan feels the Irishman may be available first.
"Gary is struggling," he said.
"He had a nasty cut on the inside of his foot that required stitches, so it will be pretty sore for a couple of days."
At least United also expect to have Rio Ferdinand available for the weekend as well.
Ferdinand sat out Wednesday night's game as a precaution after pushing himself through extra-time in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final, only the second game of his comeback from a groin injury.
With John O'Shea and Gary Neville sustaining injuries in Wednesday's senior win over Portsmouth, Wes Brown's return to action with United's Reserves couldn't be timelier.
The England international, who completed an hour against Preston on Monday, will start Thursday's match against Newcastle with one eye on this weekend's first team clash with Tottenham at Old Trafford.
"Wes will play for the Reserves on Thursday night which will be his second game [since returning from injury]," Sir Alex said after Wednesday's 2-0 win over Pompey. "We'll give him one half and he could be involved on Saturday."
Brown is joined by Tomasz Kuszczak, Darron Gibson and Fabio, who were all members of the Reds' FA Cup semi-final squad, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Warren Joyce look to secure second spot in the Barclays Premier Reserve League table.
Kuszczak keeps goal behind a defence of Brown, Richard Eckersley, Ritchie De Laet and Fabio, while Lee Martin will again act as a makeshift striker ahead of Danny Drinkwater, Gibson, Matty James, Corry Evans and Zoran Tosic.
Back from his loan with Hereford United, Febian Brandy is on a substitutes bench which also hosts Ben Amos, Oliver Gill, Magnus Eikrem and Cameron Stewart.
