No risk to Scholes - Ferguson

Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson insists he is not taking a risk by playing Paul Scholes at Leicester tomorrow.

The England midfielder returns to the United squad for the first time since the end of August after coming through a week’s intensive training without any reaction from his long-standing hernia problem.

Ferguson believed Scholes aggravated the injury on international duty against Croatia at the start of the season and there were fears that the 29-year-old would be forced to have a third operation on the injury, which could have kept him out for two months.

However, the decision to delay surgery has proved to be the correct one, with Scholes now fit enough to regain his place as one of the most important members of the Red Devils’ line-up.

“There is no risk,” confirmed Ferguson.

“We couldn’t afford to do that anyway because it might have put him out of the game for even longer.

“If he had not come through this week’s training, the subject of the operation would have had to come up again.

“But he has trained hard all week, is ready for the game and will bring us some freshness.”

Having originally pencilled him in for Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Stuttgart, Ferguson is delighted to have the midfielder back quicker than he thought.

It is also good news for Sven-Goran Eriksson ahead of the crunch Euro 2004 qualifier with Turkey in Istanbul on October 11.

“In terms of his ability to score from midfield positions, Paul is the best in the country,” said Ferguson.

“Looking at his record, no-one could disagree with that. He has scored well over 100 times for the club, which is a phenomenal record.

“He is a true footballer, who always wants to play. He has been kicking his heels waiting for the opportunity but the treatment seems to have helped and we are delighted to have him back.”