Owen Hargreaves is pencilled in to return to action for Manchester United Football Club this week.

The midfielder has been sidelined since September 2008 with a long-standing problem with his knees, but he is due to appear for the reserves against Manchester City on Thursday.

“Owen Hargreaves has shown for the first time that he is almost ready to play," Sir Alex Ferguson said. "He has been training with the first-team, which has been good to see.

“He is pencilled in for a game with the reserves on Thursday."

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