O’Shea and Hargreaves near United return

REPUBLIC of Ireland defender John O’Shea or England midfielder Owen Hargreaves could be back in the Manchester United squad to face Chelsea today.

United boss Alex Ferguson yesterday revealed he is considering bringing long-term injury victims O’Shea and Hargreaves into the fold over the coming week.

O’Shea has been out since he suffered a dead leg in Ireland’s World Cup play-off defeat to France in November. Hargreaves has not played a first-team game since September 2008 after undergoing surgery to both knees.