Manchester United winger Nani trained on Monday in a big boost for the club ahead of Tuesday’s visit of Marseille.
The French champions visit Old Trafford tied at 0-0 after the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie, and the earlier than expected availability of Nani will not be welcomed by the French side.
The Portuguese star suffered a badly gashed leg following a poor challenge from Jamie Carragher in last week’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield and was not expected to be back until after the international break that will take the season into April.
However, he took part in training for the first time since the injury at Carrington on Monday and United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that he is available for the game with l’OM.
The Scot also revealed that Michael Carrick is in the squad for the game after the midfield man missed Saturday's 2-0 FA Cup win over Arsenal with a calf injury, and forward Michael Owen also trained after several weeks out with a knee problem.
There was even an appearance by Carrick’s fellow midfielder Owen Hargreaves, who did some light training away from the main group in what is his latest return to training after a litany of injuries. Park Ji-sung joined him after his hamstring injury.
Jonny Evans, meanwhile, should be available for the weekend Premier League game at home to Bolton Wanderers, but he joined Rio Ferdinand (calf) and Darren Fletcher (virus) in missing out on Monday training.