ALAN SMITH will return to FA Cup action.
Smith, 26, broke his left leg just over a year ago in the
fifth-round tie at Anfield. He has made only one full first-team
appearance since in the Carling Cup win at Crewe back in October.
But boss Alex Ferguson has been impressed by his work and
determination to return to the side and he will be in the squad for
tonights fifth-round replay at Reading.
Smith even rejected a chance to go out on loan in January to stick
to his quest to get back in a United shirt as soon as possible.
Ferguson declared: At the time I said going away on loan would be
a good thing for him. But he had the ambition and drive within to
say I want to get back in the team. That showed great faith in
himself.
The one thing you know about Alan Smith is he has great courage
and enthusiasm to play football, which always gives him a chance.
Alan has been unfortunate not to get his chance sooner, because of
the form of the team. Yet he still has a long-term future at the
club. Ferguson is likely to bring Smith on from the bench at the
Madejski Stadium. But he is intent on giving him some first-team
football soon, as he prepares to lose Henrik Larsson from his
striking department on March 12.
Another little-used player this season has been Kieran Richardson,
who is set to start this evening. Ferguson added: Theres no
question our options are better than last season. Alan Smith and
Kieran Richardson had another run-out in the reserves last week and
enjoyed it. Ive been saying for weeks that the more football I
can give them, the better it will be for us if the time comes that
we need them later in the season.
With United firing on three fronts, Ferguson is assuring all his
squad they will be playing a part at some time. He said: Things
can change with the team. Louis Saha is not in the side at the
moment but a few months ago I couldnt see my team without
him.
Mikael Silvestre and Gabriel Heinze have been fantastic players
for this club. Yet they are not in the side at the moment either.
We will use our squad and it is so important I do that in terms of
getting minutes on the clock for all the players. The most
important thing, though, is to play a team that wins.
Ferguson will field a much-changed line-up from that which won at
Fulham, as he has a key Premiership visit to Anfield coming up on
Saturday.
Captain Gary Neville, axed at Fulham after a bust-up with his boss
during the match in Lille, is expected to return and Cristiano
Ronaldo should play after his stunning weekend winner at
Fulham.
Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Larsson are likely to be rested. But
Ferguson still expects to see off a Reading team which will also
not be at full strength.
The Scot said: Reading will play the same type of team as at Old
Trafford. The interesting thing for me is whether they will play
one up front or two.
I expect a difficult game, because Reading are the team of the
season so far. They and their manager Steve Coppell have done
fantastically.
