By Dale Jones
Shinji Kagawa is set to make the Manchester United bench for Saturday’s match against West Brom.
The summer signing from Borussia Dortmund has been out since October 23 when he suffered a knee injury during a Champions League tie against Braga.
He was expected to only be out for four weeks but suffered a setback in his recovery and has not featured since. However, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he could make the bench for Saturday’s game against the Baggies.
“Shinji Kagawa wanted to do a warm-up and training on the pitch and he is getting close,” Sir Alex Ferguson told reporters.
“I’ll see what he’s like today and I could maybe put him on the bench tomorrow depending on who is available.”
The 70-year-old also revealed that he expects both Danny Welbeck and Ashley Young to return on Saturday to give his side some needed fresh legs, although he did confirm striker Wayne Rooney still faces time on the sidelines while defender Phil Jones may miss out too.
He added: “We’re hoping maybe Young will be ready and Daniel Welbeck should be ready. [Welbeck] was ill on Tuesday night but I think he should be okay. At least that’s a couple of bodies back fresh for us. We’ll just assess the rest in terms of tiredness.
“All the players are key now as we’re picking up one or two injuries. Rooney is out for at least another two games. He was a bit better yesterday. We’re going to assess Phil Jones but I don’t think he’ll be ready.”
