Sir Alex Ferguson insists Owen Hargreaves is ready to play for Manchester United Football Club, as he pencils him in for a reserve team outing next week.

The 29-year-old’s career at Old Trafford has been blighted with knee injuries, and he hasn’t appeared for the first team since September 2008.

Although Hargreaves was pulled from a reserve team match on Thursday as it interfered with his training programme, he is set to play against Burnley’s second string next week.

"Owen went to see a specialist yesterday," said Ferguson. "There is nothing wrong and the idea is for him to play in the next game. He has to play in the next game because he is ready to play."

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