Cleverley closing on comeback

Manchester United’s Tom Cleverley is in line for Saturday’s Premier League clash with Liverpool, should he come through a reserves game.

Cleverley was put on stand-by on Wednesday to feature for United’s reserves against Manchester City’s Elite Development squad in a Manchester Senior Cup fixture on Thursday, at United’s Carrington training ground.

The midfielder has been out of action since damaging his ankle in October, and will be closely watched by Sir Alex Ferguson, who is planning on naming Cleverley as one of his substitutes for the Liverpool clash if he feels no ill effects from the game.

The match was originally due to take place in Altrincham, but was switched to Carrington because the Moss Lane ground is unplayable because of heavy frost.

The England Under-21 international was pencilled in to play for the reserves against Chelsea on Monday, only for the game to be postponed due to bad weather.

Ferguson is eager to get Cleverley back for the final stages of the campaign.

The 22-year-old established himself in the first team in the opening weeks of the season, when he made seven impressive appearances, but has not featured since United’s 1-0 win at Everton on October 29.