Rio Ferdinand soon to make permanent return
Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand has said that he feels physically ready to start making regular appearances for the club, but that Sir Alex Ferguson will make the ultimate decision regarding his fitness.
Ferdinand, who has been troubled by a knee injury since early June, causing him to miss the World Cup and many of United’s games in the early stages of the season, made his third appearance of the season when United defeated Valencia in the Champions League
on Wednesday evening.
United travel to face Sunderland in the Premier League on Saturday, and Ferdinand said he is ready start his second consecutive game against Steve Bruce’s team.
"I feel I can play two games in a row," he told the Press Association. "It is obvious I need games. I have been out for so long, to expect to come back and play matches on the bounce straight away would be wrong.”
The 31-year-old added that he will leave the final decision over whether or not he will feature to Sir Alex Ferguson. "He is the most experienced man on the planet in football terms. I have to trust the manager's judgment and his views on me playing for
the future of the season. If he deems it right for me to play on Saturday I would be delighted."
Ferdinand also dismissed speculation that the back injury that kept him out for part of last season has returned. "I did some stretching before the game last night but that was not for my back. That is just an assumption. My back is fine. There is no problem."
Trail Chelsea by three points
United are second in the league ahead of the trip to Sunderland, three points behind leaders Chelsea, but despite their bad habit of giving teams a head start to the league season, Ferdinand remained hopeful that United will close the gap to Carlo Ancelotti’s
team.
"The seasons we have lost the league have been the ones where we have given teams a head start. It seemed like we were doing that until last weekend but now the gap is three again, which I wouldn't say it is a massive difference at this stage of the season.”
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