United Rant

Owen Hargreaves made a very long-awaited return from injury tonight with a 45 minute long outing for Manchester United reserves against Burnley at Moss Lane, Altringham. The midfielder, on the sidelines for 18 months following a double knee operation on persistent tendonitis, made a low-key comeback in a very long road to recovery.

“It was the first step in what has been an incredibly long ordeal” said Hargreaves.

“I’m very happy that I can be back with an 11 v 11 and a referee at least. It was great. I’m fit. I have been training incredibly hard, I have been doing everything I possibly could.

“I have seen the inside of the gym for about six hours everyday so I have had enough of it. I’d like to get back to doing football work. I will just train with the team and when the sharpness comes back and I start to feel better then I will consider playing a first-team game.”