Fergie expects Hargreaves and Giggs back next week

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is confident Owen Hargreaves will finally end his injury nightmare in a reserve match against Burnley next week and also revealed Ryan Giggs is almost ready to return to action.

Hargreaves had been pencilled in to face Manchester City reserves on Thursday evening after 18 months out with a knee injury. But the England midfielder was pulled out of the match, sparking fears he may have suffered another setback.

But Ferguson, who withdrew the former Bayern Munich player from his Champions League squad in January, said Hargreaves missed the match to keep a specialist appointment and the Scot expects his injury-plagued star to make his long-awaited comeback against Burnley’s reserves next week.

“Owen Hargreaves went to see a specialist on Thursday and that’s why he didn’t play but there’s nothing wrong and he’s training,” Ferguson said on Friday.

“He’ll play in the next game, he has to play in the next game because he’s ready to play.”

Meanwhile, Ferguson is confident Giggs is on the comeback trail after fracturing his arm in the draw with Aston Villa last month.

The veteran winger is now ready to return in the grudge match with Rafael Benitez?s Liverpool at Old Trafford next Sunday.

Ferguson had been easing Giggs through the season but feels the Welsh star will reap a benefit from a month out.

He added: “Ryan will be fit for the Liverpool game. He gets a different plaster on today (Friday) and he’s been training really well, his training performances have been fantastic.

“We’re getting a fresh player back which is good. We’ll try to formulate what was the best games to play him in in terms of his freshness and now he’s had a month’s rest so he’s going to come back a fresh player for us.”

Premier League leaders United face Fulham on Sunday and Ferguson has been impressed with the work done by Roy Hodgson at Craven Cottage.

The former Inter Milan manager has taken the Cottagers from a relegation battle to the Europa League during his two years in charge.

Ferguson thinks that Hodgson, who has previously worked at international level, would fit the mould for the eventual replacement for England coach Fabio Capello.

He said: “When Roy went there they were third bottom of the league and now they’re playing European football. It’s a remarkable story.

“He’s brought his experience and authority to the club and they play with great discipline and that’s down to the manager. He’s formed a team that no-one likes to play against now.

“They’re very well organised and they can pass the ball. It’s just turned the whole club around and it’s not going to be an easy game for us.

“He’s been an international manager on two or three occasions and he’s got great experience of that with Switzerland and Finland. I think that’s the kind of experience you will need.

“National managers should be well experienced, seen it all and done his stint at club level and ready for international management.

“Of course Roy’s experience would be ideal for that type of thing but you can’t pre-empt that.

“If Fabio does well, I’m sure he’ll want to stay, why would he not want to stay? It’s the hardest challenge for him as an international manager because of the expectation and Fabio looks like he relishes that. He likes these kind of challenges.”

Ferguson, who has Michael Carrick back from suspension on Sunday, believes his team have to forget about their 4-0 Champions League victory over AC Milan.

He added: “I think it’s an emphatic result, there’s no question.

“You’ve also got to calm yourself down a bit because they lost (Alessandro) Nesta on the morning of the game and lost their centre back at half time and had to play (Massimo) Ambrosini at centre back and that was difficult for them, just like when we played Fulham with no centre backs. What do you expect?

“It was a big problem for them. It was a fantastic result but we’ve just got to calm ourselves down a little bit.”