Vida: Good to be back

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Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic could be back to bolster Manchester United's flagging Premier League title challenge against West Ham.

Sir Alex Ferguson has not had his first-choice central defensive partnership available since October but with Ferdinand now clear of suspension and Vidic over the nerve problem that has prevented him making an appearance in 2010, both men are expected to start against the Hammers.

With the Carling Cup final on Sunday, Ferguson might have been tempted to rest Wayne Rooney but that hardly seems likely in the wake of Saturday's defeat at Everton which left the Red Devils four points adrift of Chelsea. Nani is still suspended.

Teams:

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, Brown, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Park, Anderson, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Gibson, Rooney, Owen, Berbatov, Diouf.

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Nemanja Vidic made a successful return on his first start in 2010 for United, turning in a commanding defensive display in the 3-0 win over West Ham.

The Serbian has been troubled by a nerve problem in his right leg, and hadn’t played since the win over Wigan at the end of December. But his towering performance on Tuesday was a welcome sight.

“It’s nice to be back,” he told MUTV. “I enjoyed playing again. It’s a long time since I last played, but I am happy first of all that we won the game, and also that I feel OK in terms of the injury. I feel well and that’s very important for me. I didn’t feel any reaction today. So I am very happy.

“When I finished last season, I thought this season would be even better, but I’ve had the injury and this year has been very frustrating. I missed pre-season and two months recently. I hope the injury is in the past and I’m looking forward to the next games.”

United were defensively sound with Vidic marshalling the back four, and the 28-year-old was pleased with the team’s clean sheet.

“It was 3-0 but we could maybe have scored more,” he added. “We played some good football. In the beginning it wasn’t an easy game. They played with two forwards and tried to score. They had some good chances, but we dealt with that and deserved the three points.”

The win puts United a point behind league leaders Chelsea, who play their game in hand against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. They could reclaim a four-point lead, but Vidic isn’t worried by the Blues’ advantage.

“We believe we can win the title,” he said. “Confidence is a big word, but we believe we can do it. They could be four points in front of us [with their game in hand] but they have to come to our ground [in April]. We can do it, especially with some big players back from injury. I think we will be good for the rest of the season.”