Hargreaves back in training & Carrick also close to a return

• zocoss

  24 Sep 10, 23:11

  Owen Hargreaves is back in training and pushing hard for Manchester United selection, reveals Sir Alex Ferguson
  

   

  

  Look who's back: Hargreaves trains at Carrington

   

   

   

  Owen Hargreaves has returned to training with Manchester United's first team and is pushing hard for selection, Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed.

  The England midfield ace has spent almost two years trying to recover from a career-threatening tendinitis problem in his knees and is now finally on the verge of a comeback.

  Hargreaves managed a 45-minute reserve team outing before coming on for the final few seconds of the Premier League win over Sunderland in May, but then suffered a setback in his recovery.

  But the former Bayern Munich star now looks set to put pressure on United's midfielders for a place in the starting line-up, with Ferguson praising his performances in training.

  Ferguson told MUTV: 'Owen Hargreaves has come back training, he trained yesterday with the first team. He looked very good. I was surprised actually how good he was looking.

  'It's an extra string to our bow, bringing him in at this time. After being out for so long, we'll obviously have to monitor him and see how he's going to progress in the next few weeks. But it's good to see him back.

  'Because he's been out for so long you have to see whether there's going to be a relapse. That's the first thing on our mind at the moment but having watched him in training yesterday if he continues that way he's going to give me another selection problem, no question about that.'

   

  

  Relapse: Hargreaves suffered a setback after his last comeback in May

   

   

  Given the length of time Hargreaves has spent on the treatment table it is no surprise that there is a note of caution within Ferguson's praise. But there was further good news for the 29-year-old when his doctor, the renowned knee specialist Richard Steadman, revealed that Hargreaves' recpovery is almost complete.

  'Things are looking good for Owen, it's all worked out,' Steadman said.'He's close to playing fitness, although it's obviously up to United to decide when he plays a match.' 

  Steadman added: 'The problem was with the tendon attached to the patella on each knee, which is difficult to resolve," added Steadman.

  'After the surgery, the key was rest and working hard on recovery. Owen has spent a lot of time with us here in Colorado and he has never given up. The recovery was arduous and took a long time but his condition looks promising now.'

   

  

  On the mend: Michael Carrick

   

  Ferguson also revealed that Hargreaves' fellow midfielder Michael Carrick is also close to a return to action following achilles trouble.

  'Michael started training last week,' said Ferguson. 'He had that injection on his achilles to settle it down. It was nothing serious, just one of those niggling little problems you can get with your achilles, particularly at the start of the season when grounds are firm. But he's fine, he's started training.'

• CKeer

  25 Sep 10, 09:42

  It's good that those 2 are back. Anderson is clueless as ever, defensive or attacking midfielder? Fletcher seems to have drop back a little on his performance. It'll be great to see Hargreaves, United new signing, on the pitch. Even if he doesn't play, it'll be good if he's on the pitch.