Owen Hargreaves is inching his way towards a surprise Manchester United comeback after managing just one minute of senior action in the past two years since undergoing surgery on both knees to try to cure a tendinitis problem.
Further doubts over the England midfielder’s career were raised this summer when Ferguson sent him back to Dr Richard Steadman in Colorado after he experienced more discomfort during pre-season training.
Ferguson revealed earlier this month that Hargreaves would be returning to England in the near future and that encouragement was enhanced by Steadman’s recent observations about how well the 29-year-old has been progressing.
Even so, no-one expected the United boss to be openly talking about Hargreaves actually playing quite so soon.
Yet, after seeing the midfielder in action on the training ground at Carrington this week, Ferguson is feeling quite bullish about a successful comeback.
“Owen has looked very good,” he said. “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.”
Another England star on the way back is Michael Carrick, who had an injection in his Achilles earlier this month to try to ease some growing discomfort.
Like Hargreaves, Carrick will not come into contention for Sunday’s trip to Bolton but Ferguson is delighted with the 29-year-old’s progress.
“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,” said the United boss. But he is fine and has started training.”