Some encouraging news is coming out today that Rio Ferdinand took part in training today after a two month injury lay-off and could start alongside Vidic in the centre of defence.

If this is correct and Rio can keep himself fit for the remainder of the season then this is obviously a massive boost to our chances as we continue to compete on three fronts.

Chris Smalling has been fantastic during Rio’s absence and has won over many fans who now believe that he could be the long-term future of our central defence but, as we get down to the nitty gritty end of the season, there can be no substitute for the experience that Ferdinand brings to the table.

A Champions League Quarter Final away match against Chelsea might not be the ideal match to bring in a player who has been out for a couple of months and it is going to be interesting to see if Rio does play the full ninety minutes (if he plays at all) but, at this stage of the season, I suppose it could be argued that there are no easy matches and Fergie clearly wants Rio back and playing as soon as possible.

Rafael and Anderson also trained with the squad after their own recent injury problems so little by little, the squad does seem to be coming back together at just the right time.

Rio Ferdinand complete 45 minutes for the Reserves this evening when they took on Oldham in the Manchester Senior Cup and has surely put himself back into contention for a start against Everton in ten days’ time.

It has come as a bit of a surprise this one as the news was that he was still a couple of weeks away from fitness but with Anderson suddenly appearing in a reserve fixture last week it seems to be the way at United at the moment – give absolutely nothing away!

On a related note, Owen Hargreaves fans will be interested to see that he has been included in United’s 25 man Premier League squad for the current season. With the transfer window closing yesterday, Premier League clubs had to send in their final squads for the current campaign and Hargo’s inclusion had been subject of some debate but he is there and that may mean that Fergie sees him playing some kind of role over the next few months.

It isn’t a guarantee though – it does appear that we were easily able to accomodate our players into the restrictions of the new ruling and many clubs appear to have actually put forward a squad list of less than 25 players – even with Hargo, we have only submitted 24.

In other news of the last few days, Tom Cleverley went out on loan to Wigan which, I must admit, I found strange. I really thought he would be brought through into the first team this season but Fergie has clearly decided that he has enough options in midfield at the moment and a loan to a Premier League side will be a good experience for Cleverley.

Let’s hope he does for Wigan what Mame Biram Diouf has done for Blackburn so far!