Reds attack nears full force

With Louis Saha making a goalscoring return against Sunderland, Cristiano Ronaldo now free from suspension and Wayne Rooney’s comeback from injury reportedly not far off, Reds skipper Gary Neville hopes United can now go on a long winning run.

The 32-year-old, yet to play this season due to niggling calf and thigh injuries, is hoping to return in “a week or two”. But he says the support for Carlos Tevez from Saha and Rooney and the potent attacking threat of Ronaldo will make a real difference to the Reds in the coming weeks.

“I think we needed the wins against Tottenham and Sunderland,” Neville told MUTV. "It’s obvious that we didn’t hit the best of form during the first few weeks of the season but I think there are reasons for that. We’ve had injuries to Louis Saha, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Wayne Rooney so Carlos Tevez has been up there on his own,” he adds. “He finished the Copa America, came over here and has had to be thrown straight in at the deep end, up front on his own.

“It’s been difficult for us not having three of our forwards available. You could see in the last game the difference Louis made when he came on, and I think with Wayne coming back soon I’m sure we’ll get even stronger. We have to make sure we don’t fall too behind the leaders at this stage.”

Ronaldo, who was United’s joint-top goalscorer with Rooney on 23 goals last term, is also back from a three-game ban for his sending off against Portsmouth. The culmination of those three attacking players returning, Neville feels, will make all the difference. “Cristiano getting suspended obviously added to our problems," he said. "But I think it will all come together in the next few weeks. Hopefully we'll pick up the level of performance and get back to freescoring ways.”