Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has said there is good news on the horizon for club and fans as players are making quick recoveries from injury.

Owen Hargreaves and Ryan Giggs have both been on the sidelines of late and both are close to full returns to the team. Hargreaves has been out for a long time with a troublesome knee and Giggs broke his arm in a match just after the New Year.

United will need all of their playing staff fit and firing if they are going to have any chance of winning another title but things are looking good as they have missed players at regular points through the current season.

Ferguson said: “Ryan will be fit for the Liverpool game. His performances in training have been fantastic. He is getting another plaster on today but we will be getting a fresh player back, which is good.”

“For weeks we had to try and work out the best games for him to play in, in terms of freshness and rest. Now he has had a month’s rest. Owen Hargreaves went to see a specialist on Thursday and that’s why he didn’t play but there’s nothing wrong and he’s training.”

“He’ll play in the next game, he has to play in the next game because he’s ready to play. Roy Hodgson has great experience, the kind of experience you need in international management. He would be ideal for that type of thing.”

“But I don’t think you can’t pre-empt that. I am sure if Fabio does well at the World Cup, he will want to stay on as England manager. Why would he not want to? It is the hardest challenge for him because the expectation is high and he looks to me to be the type that relishes that. Roy has brought his experience and authority to the club. He has formed a team that no-one likes to play against. They are very well organised and they play with great discipline. That is down to the manager.”

United will be going for a little bit of revenge on Sunday after the drubbing that Fulham gave them in the Premier League match at Craven Cottage. Fulham ran out 3-0 winners on that occasion.

It was an occasion when United were having to mix up their defence every single week and now that they have a settled side, it is likely that they could get a result in front of their own fans on their own ground.

Hargreaves probably won’t start but if things are going well during the game he will get thrown on at some point. He is likely to get a standing ovation because he has been a loyal player to the club during his injury when he could have packed the game in or gone elsewhere.

United need the win and for once there are no shortage of players who want to put their hand up and be counted.

The Football Association has admitted defeat as it has lost a battle to stop the Wembley pitch from being re-laid for the tenth time in just three years.

It is thought that a number of key England players made complaints about the pitch in recent games. The complaints seem to have carried enough weight to force the FA into paying for another pitch.

The new ground has been constantly changing since it was first opened. The Egypt players said the other week when they played England that they did not have any issues with the quality of the pitch.

However, Slavan Bilic, manager of Croatia, said a couple of years ago that he was shocked at just how quickly the Wembley pitch seems to deteriorate once the players start a match.

An FA spokesperson said: “The groundstaff did very well to stage the Carling Cup, despite around 80mm of rain in the week with a further 40mm the night before the match, and they used a canopy to shield the pitch from the rain on Saturday night and on Sunday. They worked round the clock and could not have done more.”

“Conditions were better ahead of the England match, but the pitch was still not good enough for our liking. Ultimately, it has not fared well through what has been an extremely harsh winter and it needs to be replaced. The stadium caters for football and non-football events, so replacing the pitch more than once a year is the reality of a multipurpose venue.”

The point is that there are so many talented groudsmen all over England that never got a look in at the top flight because of their association with some of the lower league clubs in England.

James Milner, Aston Villa player, said he had played on better League One and League Two pitches when he spent time on loan early in his career. This marks quite a contrast in the quality of pitch handling at the highest and lowest levels.

It is fair enough to say that Wembley does get used for other sporting occasions, but these sporting occasions are very limited. There is plenty of space to host NFL matches and still maintain a good quality pitch.

Many more football clubs have to keep their ground in a good condition and it gets played on every single week. Some teams also allow rugby clubs to play in their stadium, which drastically damages the turf.

Wembley should have one of the best pitches in the world because it is an iconic stadium for football and for many other sports. The cost of a relay each time is going to mount up and it is an area the FA could cut back on if they reviewed the people in charge of the pitch.

England also need to be playing on a slick and neat surface ahead of the World Cup in South Africa if they want any chance of having some success.

Manchester United striker, Michael Owen, has been told that he will not be able to play again this season.

Owen picked up a hamstring injury during the Carling Cup win over Aston Villa last weekend. The news will also put an end to any ambitions the player had of making the England World Cup squad this summer.

Owen is a player who is well known for getting injured at the wrong times in a season. He never played his full quota of games and now he will not play again for United in the current campaign.

Sir Alex Ferguson said: “It’s a bad blow – he’s out for the season. Unfortunately it’s more serious than we thought. He will be operated on, on Monday morning.”

“It’s a terrible blow for the lad and is disappointing news for us too. He has never missed a training session all season. I think the heavy pitch at Wembley on Sunday made some contribution to it but really it is just bad luck.”

Owen added: “Unfortunately the specialist says I will miss the end of the season. I have loved every minute of my first campaign with Manchester United and have already enjoyed some memorable moments. I am determined to come back at the start of next season in peak condition.”

Ironically the news has opened a door for a number of other English strikers to come in and have a shot at getting on the plane for South Africa. Owen stood a good chance of being picked but there is still a striker spot up for grabs.

This news will be a huge blow to United and United fans. With such a competitive Premier League run in expected, the club would have been hoping that the experience of every single player they had would have seen them through any trouble.

United are now desperately thin in terms of attacking options. If Wayne Rooney gets temporarily injured that it does not bear thinking about how United would score the goals, which would take them to a record 19th League crown.

However, Ferguson is old and wise enough to know how to deal with this situation. Hopefully he can nurse his attack through the rest of the season, letting them off the leash on vital occasions to score vital goals.

For England, Fabio Capello was probably looking at a few options any way so this news would have just removed one more name from the list of players he is tracking for potential World Cup places.

Owen seems destined to be the player who has the injury tag follow him around for the rest of his career. It does not seem to matter which club he ends up playing for, he always seems to pick up a few injuries along the way that stop him from having an extended run in the side.

Watch this space, a lot could happen to both United and England in the coming months.

Former professional football player, Tony Cascarino, has said that England will need Peter Crouch more than Wayne Rooney in South Africa this summer.

Crouch came off the bench to bag a brace in the win over Egypt on Wednesday night. His dominance and physical presence seemed to transform the fortunes of the England side on the field.

Rooney played from the start of the game and gave a typically busy performance, which was capped by a TV clip that showed the Manchester United front man yelling at the entire team in the first half.

Cascarino said: “Who’s the more important striker for England, Wayne Rooney or Peter Crouch? Guess again: it’s Crouch. I’d argue he’s England’s most important attacker – potentially the team’s most important player, in fact.”

“Not the best player, you understand; but there’s a difference between “best” and “most important”. Crouch is one of those players who can make the entire team more effective just by his presence. He’s not the most individually talented, he need not even have an especially good game; but as we saw on Wednesday, when he’s in the team, England are improved.”

“It’s because of what Crouch does to opponents – he scares defences who are intimidated by his height – and what he does to his own team-mates. He adds a dimension to England’s attacks that isn’t present when two small forwards such as Rooney and Jermain Defoe are up front. And by doing that, Crouch influences England as a whole, because they become less predictable and more confident, whether he’s seeing much of the ball or not.”

“There’s enough flair in the England side to create chances without a tall target man, but Crouch gives an extra option. Wingers can cut inside and pass short to onrushing midfield players such as Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard, or send over high crosses and feel optimistic Crouch will get on the end of the ball. They’ve got more choice when Crouch is there. And not being able to predict what will happen makes defences nervous and more vulnerable.”

It is highly debateable to say that Crouch is a better player than Rooney. Any football fan or pundit would pick the United striker ahead of the Spurs player. The point is that together they can become formidable.

Rooney has the work ethic and the skill to create something out of nothing while Crouch gives them something at the very top of the pitch. Just the sheer size of the Tottenham player makes him a daunting striker to play against.

The two need to combine and start working towards making England a threatening attacking team to play against. Teams have worked out how to play against Crouch but not when he has Rooney snapping at his heels as well.

Hopefully the two will bag enough goals to be able to send England into the later stages of the World Cup when literally any thing can happen.

Former England player and current legend, Chris Waddle, has said that Theo Walcott does not understand the game enough at international level.

Waddle is speaking ahead of the World Cup this summer and there is still a big chance for someone in the side to step in and make the right and left wing positions their own.

Waddle was an England regular who played in some of the toughest club and country competitions in the world. He will know better than most the qualities needed to read the game at the highest level.

He said: “People keep saying he’s young but Wayne Rooney understood the game at 16, 17. I’ve never seen any difference in Walcott since he was at Southampton and broke into the team at a very young age.”

“I’ve never seen him develop. He just doesn’t understand the game for me – where to be running, when to run inside a full back, when to just play a one-two. It’s all off the cuff. I just don’t think he’s got a football brain and he’s going to have problems. Let’s be honest, good defenders would catch him offside every time. I just don’t know whether he studies the game, learns the game, or what. He’s at a great club where they play fantastic football week-in, week-out, and I’m just surprised he’s never developed his game.”

“I’m surprised Walcott was in the squad. He doesn’t play a lot of football, he hasn’t done anything. he hasn’t done anything for a long time and I think Croatia was a one-off. I just think he’s got a lot to learn. I’ve been more impressed by Adam Johnson at Manchester City than Theo Walcott.”

Waddle’s comments about Johnson at Manchester City will be echoed by many people within the current football community. It is a little strange how a player who was set to join Real Madrid at one point cannot be good enough to play for his own country.

Walcott is a decent player but the point is he still has a lot to prove on the international stage. Johnson needs a chance and he could be a fresher and surprising choice for England’s World Cup squad this summer.

It is a nice problem for Fabio Capello to have and the boss will be hoping that competition for places continues to stay fierce. The one thing he will not want to happen is a spurt of injuries, which threaten to dent the spine of the side.

You cannot be a bad player if you can score an away hat trick in international football. Walcott needs to work hard and remember that he has a top line manager in Arsene Wenger to go to advice for at Arsenal.

It’s difficult to call all of the midfield positions for England’s squad, which will go to South Africa in June. Walcott and Johnson may well end up both going. Watch this space over the coming months.

England manager, Fabio Capello, has praised former captain, John Terry, after England’s 3-1 victory over Egypt at Wembley.

Terry led by example for the entire match and came up with a performance, which showed everyone why he was named as captain in the first place. His performance was met by constant cheers from the home crowd.

It was unknown how Terry would play after the recent media attention, which has been attributed to him. Hopefully the example can inspire the team towards further victories as England prepare for the World Cup this summer.

Terry said: “I’m really happy, and thank you to the crowd because they supported the team and John Terry. This was one of the most important games for him after the history of what happened off the pitch. He played a fantastic game, like I know he plays always at this level. When I chose him as captain I knew the value of this player because he’s really important on the pitch.”

“Crouch is one of the most important players. I’ve selected him a lot, he’s played a lot of games for me and he’s in very good form. But you have to understand that, when I select the squad, I always say that all the players can play.”

“Today I wanted to understand what happens with Defoe and Rooney in the first half. I know what happens when Rooney plays with Crouch, with Carlton Cole or Emile Heskey. I know that. For that reason today it was better to start with Defoe in preparation for the World Cup. To know whether these two can play together.”

England took a long time to get going in the match last night before their play exploded in the second half. It is clear that Terry will need to be strong at the back of the team and this will have to run right through the side.

Terry and Rooney were both exceptional when it came to trying to lift the team during low points in the first 45 minutes. Two goals from Peter Crouch went onto ensure that the victory was a certainty.

The Spurs striker added: “Anyone who plays for England is going to feel under pressure, certainly in a World Cup year. You can only try to do your best and I did. It’s up to the manager. All you’ve got to do when given your chance is try and take it, and I’ve given the manager something to think about.”

However, there are clear signs of weakness in the team, regardless of the impressive nature of the score line. It was clear that Leighton Baines is not up to the job at left back, which will open the door for Aston Villa’s Stephen Warnock to come in and be Ashley Cole’s number two.

All in all though it was a fairly solid night for English football. There is clear reason to be optimistic without getting carried away.

Republic of Ireland captain, Robbie Keane, says that his country can take many positives out of the defeat they suffered at the hands of Brazil.

Ireland lost the game 2-0 and although Brazil did not play particularly well, it was clear that there is still a huge gulf in difference between Ireland and some of the world’s best teams.

The pace and movement of the Brazilians was just too great for Ireland to cope with and it would have taken a brave man to bet against the multiple World Champions before the game kicked off.

Keane said: “We dominated the game in the first half, when we knocked the ball around really well. We can take a lot of positives from that, but afterwards we perhaps showed them too much respect and let them have the ball.”

“We can learn from that, and it is up to us to work hard. The younger lads coming into the squad can take this experience into the next games now. You should go into every game thinking you can win, now matter who you are playing against. We stood up against France and Italy, and have done that in the first half against Brazil.”

“It does not matter if you are playing the world champions or anyone else, it is about getting confidence and winning games. We are close, but not close enough because we have not achieved what we wanted to in getting to the World Cup. It has all been ‘what ifs’ but when you look at the games, we have stood up against some of the best teams in the world.”

Ireland are a team that produce far too many inconsistent results. When things are in their favour and the crowd are on their side, they jump into games full of passion and venom.

This makes them a tricky lower ranked team to play against but it is clear they still have work to do. They would have still been hurting from the defeat against France, which cost them a World Cup spot.

Midfield player, Glenn Whelan, added: “It is a big thing now about moving on and we are trying to put the France situation behind us. We do not want to get in the play-offs again, we want to qualify straight away.”

The defeat against France was one, which hurt the side badly. It was also covered in controversy after Thierry Henry deliberately handled the ball in the build up to the goal, which knocked Ireland out.

However, they will have some revenge further down the line and France will get a lot of criticism even while they’re at the World Cup.

Striker, Kevin Doyle, also said: “We are very organised, it is a simple thing really because everyone knows their job. The manager has had a settled team and he has given us confidence because he has won so many things. When he tells you something, you listen.”