Manchester United defender Rafael is on the verge of returning to action, and Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that the Brazilian may feature for the reserves in midweek.
The South American has played no part in the 2011-12 season to date due to having an operation on an injured shoulder back in August, but the Scottish coach has stated that the right back is on the verge of recovery.
“Rafael has been training for over a week. It was a big operation on his shoulder and we hope we can maybe fit a game in for him – maybe the next reserve game,” Ferguson told the club’s official website.
“He’s coming along fine, there has been no setback and he has been training every day.”
The next reserve fixture for United is against their Everton equivalents on Thursday night.
Rafael’s eventual return will give Ferguson additional options at right full back, where Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have both had stints playing this term so far.
By Gareth McKnight
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